Achievement in Sales: Transitioning from Service

Understanding the “service” concept was easy and quick in my career.  Perhaps it was because I always wanted to serve.   Growing up in Hawaii, there were many like me who believed in tourism and hospitality and service was the requirement to be successful in this industry.

With the foundation established, the transition to sales was simple, quick, and smooth.   As a young salesman, I wanted, no I needed, to prove myself worthy of the title and responsibility.   At the time, an achievement only meant, making a sale, booking business, and then booking more business.   It was all I could think of every day and night.   I can remember the many hours in planning, practice, and execution. 

The achievement was not elusive, but challenging.

I can remember (as if it was yesterday), my first sale, and all that led up to the closing.   All the emotions, fears, sweat, and tears, hours of practice and preparation, the various presentations, answering all the objections, and holding the hands of the prospect finally paid off in the end.   I remember vividly the happiness, excitement, jubilation, satisfaction, and most of all, the great sense of relief.    This was an achievement and I really liked the feeling from it.

I wanted to go out and celebrate but then remembered that successful salespeople don’t go out immediately to celebrate a sale.  Instead, they garner the momentum derived from the sale and take that momentum to the next sale.   I heard myself saying, “Go out and make another call and use the momentum to close another sale.”   The feeling of achievement drives all of us and is the reason we come back to work the next day.

Having made the achievement, you know that you are more than willing and capable. 

It builds confidence and inspires one to do even better the next day.   To be successful in sales means that we are consistently achieving and always looking forward to the next sale.

While a day consists of 24 hours, we don’t have 24 hours to conduct business and make sales, so we have to make the most of every minute that is available to us. I hated to call it a day and was always eager to start the next day.   That was the feeling when I turned in for the night.   

Next, a story to describe that feeling of achievement…