Emotional Intelligence for Sales Leadership by Colleen Stanley

Author:Colleen Stanley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harpercollins Leadership
Published: 2020-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

David and Goliath

When I started in sales with Varsity Spirit Corporation, our biggest competitor was about eight times our size. It was the classic David and Goliath story. The good news is that many of the early members of the sales team were new to sales. We didn’t even know enough to be nervous about the size of the competition! Ignorance is bliss. We didn’t worry about being the underdog because of our conviction in the company, our products, and our services.

I remember receiving my first sales report, summarizing the accounts in my territory of Iowa and Nebraska. There were around six hundred accounts, of which Varsity was conducting business with very few. In reviewing the report, I didn’t panic because—ignorance is bliss. My self-talk was positive. “Well, with six hundred accounts, surely I can open up at least forty new accounts this year.” And guess how many new accounts I opened up my first year in sales? Forty new accounts. Beliefs drive actions, skills, and outcome.

Looking back, I’m grateful that I wasn’t exposed to any negative salespeople who could have filled my head with self-limiting beliefs.

“You are the new kid on the block. It’s going to take you a long time to unseat the competitor.”

“The competition has better brand awareness. Prospects are going to be reluctant to work with you. You’ll probably need to discount to get a foot in the door.”

Even in my early years of sales, I had good self-awareness. I knew I wasn’t that good at sales. However, I believed I could outwork and out-service my competition. Those beliefs—not my average selling skills—opened up new accounts.

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