There are three types of sales- people in this world: Extra Milers, Plateauers, and Just Enoughs. Which one are you? What differentiates a successful sales producer from a mediocre salesperson? Read on!
The Plateauer
The Plateauer operates within a comfort zone of self-imposed upper limits. He succeeds for a while and then coasts for a while. But one big problem with coasting is that it only happens in one direction: down-hill!
The Just Enoughs Just Enoughs do just enough to get by. They sell
just enough to keep the wolves away from the door. They do just enough paperwork to keep the boss off their backs. They make just enough calls to meet the standard someone else has set for them. It never even occurs to them to do more than expected.
The Extra Miler
The Extra Miler (EM) makes success a habit, know- ing that it is a way of life, a philosophy, and an attitude – not an event. The EM understands that success doesn’t come by accident; in any venture, success happens on purpose with purpose. The EM lives at the limits of human potential, under- standing that the difference between ordinary performance and extraordinary performance is that little something extra he gives to life. Three distinct characteristics make the EM stand out from the pack: positive attitude, posi- tive action, and positive control.
Positive Attitude
The EM views life through a unique prism, looking for the good and positive inherent in all situations and choosing to focus on those. At the same time, the EM doesn’t disregard the negative, but chooses to learn from it instead. Failures in life don’t discourage the EM from trying again – he or she gives that failure an appropriate amount of emotion and then moves on to bigger and better
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things. To the EM, life’s greatest failure would be to quit the race just because he or she didn’t win the first lap.
One expert had something to say about this: “I would rather attempt a great many things in this world – and fail – than to attempt nothing and succeed.”
Positive Action
If you feel that thinking positively is enough, you’re kidding yourself. Positive attitude without positive action is a con job – nothing more than hopeful optimism. Sales (and life itself) are not spectator sports. You must act positively and decisively. The EM understands this and takes an active role in life.
The EM knows that success comes from be-
ing proactive – you’ve got to be in the race if you want to win it. If you want to cross the fin- ish line as a champion, you’ve got to perform like one. The unique combination of your high level of initiative, coupled with everyone else’s inertia, apathy, and indifference, will make you successful.
Positive Control
The third characteristic of the EM is positive control. Success or failure happens because of what each of us does or does not do, so the EM is internally driven – he’s the captain of his ship, the master of his fate, the architect of his future. Part of being an EM is sitting in the driver’s seat of life – accepting responsibility and accountability for the future. The EM avoids saying things like, “The economy is so bad I just can’t sell!” Instead, he might say, “I know things are bad for some people, but I don’t think I’ll participate in a bad economy. I’ll create a good one for me!” The EM replaces the words “fate” and “luck” with the words “commitment” and “determina- tion.” He replaces “I can’t” with “I won’t.” And he says “when” versus “if.” It has been said that there is no heavier burden than a great opportunity. And I suspect that, as you finish this article, you either have a great op- portunity or a tremendous burden, depending on your own perspective. Still, each of us must make a conscious choice as to how we plan to spend the remaining time we have on this Earth. Will you be an Extra Miler, a Plateauer, or a Just Enough? Only you know the answer.
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