Don't be afraid of failure! The most successful salespeople are often those that have failed the most. The more you fail, the more opportunities you have to succeed.

Failure has become a stigma, both within sales and culturally. No one wants to fail or be labeled a “failure”. The result of that is that people either try to reject their failure or avoid taking any risks at all. In sales, this can be the end of a career. There are salespeople that decided they couldn't deal with failing anymore and set up camp with whatever level of success they had. Prospecting stops, clients demand everything, and sales plateau. They may keep showing up for work, but their career has gone as far as it's ever going to.

If you are going to be in sales, you better get used to the idea of failing. You are going to get rejection and many deals won't close. It's your outlook that determines how you react to these situations. Some salespeople try to hide from their failure, they make excuses until they don't feel responsible anymore, “The market is bad”, “That buyer was an idiot”, “I didn't get the support I needed.” All of these things are another way of saying, “I don't want to admit and learn from my failure. I'd rather appear to have it all together than actually go through the process of being the best."

Don't do this. Admit to your failures and learn from them. Have the courage to recognize your faults and you will develop much faster into a great salesperson than all the people hiding from their mistakes. Some salespeople go a step further and avoid risks altogether. They do only what is required of them to keep their job. They'll maintain clients and avoid prospecting. They pad their numbers and hide behind “full pipelines”. They'll bury themselves in paperwork and proposals, whatever is necessary to detach themselves from failing.

If you fall into this trap, know one thing: you have decided to stop developing and improving yourself. The only way to grow is by trying new things and taking risks. Once you retreat into your shell, you destroy any possibility of growing. Embrace your failure. It will help you improve as a salesperson and ultimately will garner respect. Though there is a stigma to being a “failure”, there is also a stigma to people that persevere through failures and become great successes. Failure is simply a step toward success.

© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Jeremy Rawitz

Sandler Sales Institute

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