Work like an immigrant

"He's such a bright boy.

If he'd only apply himself he could get straight A's but instead of studying and doing the work when he should, he waits until the last minute and settles for B's and C's."

Does that sound familiar?

It seems to be a common link between many salesmen and it's OK - when you're 14!

IT'S NOT OK ANYMORE. YOU'RE A GROWN MAN.

Everybody doesn't like you

and they won't like you

more if you're a screw up.

One other little tidbit to chew on. In the real world, it pays a hell of a lot more being an A student than a B or C student.

Let's face it, you probably wouldn't be in sales unless you had some innate ability. There are two key ingredients necessary to be a successful salesperson. First is intelligence. Simply put you have to be a little smarter than the average bear. You don't have to be a genius but the brighter the better. If you're reading this blog then you probably have this talent. Isn't that nice?

You didn't have to do shit to get it -

you were born with it.

Many of you have been skating by

on it your entire lives.

I heard a tape one time where the salesman was complaining how he had 10 years experience and how he should be making more and how he was under appreciated. The narrator went on to explain that the salesman didn't have 10 years experience but he had one year of experience 10 times over. The truth hurts! Many of us are guilty of that and usually the smarter we are the more guilty we are. You know, "Why kill myself?" and "If he were really that good then he wouldn't have to work so hard." The classic "Listen to a sales CD? Read a motivational book? I did that shit when I was 19."

The end result of all this

God given talent is

we wind up turning into

lazy shits.

I have to tell you - you get to a certain age and it's just not "cool" anymore. You can't do the bare bones minimum forever if you want some meaningful cash in your life. If you're good with being a bagger at the grocery store when you're 70 then, by all means, don't kill yourself. Settle for C's.

Ingredient number 2

is the dreaded

WORK ETHIC.

I mean bust your ass. I mean work like you have everything that means anything to you riding on your next sale. In all my years in sales, the one deciding factor between the best and the rest has always been work ethic. You say "But I don't want to work that hard. It's just not worth it to me." That's great, just please get the f**k out of my face. Go work at the convenience store and bitch about how you're not paid what you're worth.

It's all about work ethic and the funny part is that lots of people convince themselves they really are a hard worker when they are not. Ask yourself this question when you're trying to justify to yourself how hard you worked on a day when you haven't met your goals and you want to "make it up tomorrow." Ready.... "If I knew that I would lose my (house/car/savings) based upon today's results, would I still quit for the day or is there (something/anything) that I can do to take care of today? I'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow."

You see, you need the work ethic of an immigrant. You need the work ethic of a business owner who stands to lose everything if his or her business goes under. You say "But I don't want to work like and immigrant and I don't want pressure like the business owner." Fine, just don't kid yourself into thinking that you're a sales winner. You're not and you need to get into retail. You'll make a terrific clerk in the men's department. Don't laugh because it really has to be one way or the other. When it comes to how hard one works, there really is no middle road.

If you want the rewards then you must pay the price. The price is working harder than you have to. The price is not doing almost enough. The price is busting your ass and it's a bitch and you probably don't wanna and if you can do it anyway......then the rewards are extra sweeeet!

If you like this post or if you hate this post, I would really appreciate any and all comments.