3 Questions and Lessons Top Performers Follow
'I can't believe I lost this sale!' I heard on the other end of the phone. I had left sales a few weeks earlier and moved into sales training when I heard this from the person I was coaching. I felt bad at first, knowing how disappointing and 'personal' it can feel when not only you lose a sale, but you had all the confidence in the world the customer was aligned with you - yet the competitor won the business. Not to mention the 'feeling like a failure' and disappointment that no one else understands when we look in the mirror!
Sometimes it's easy to overlook the 'blind spots,' and in this case the biggest miss was there was not a strong measurable 'why now' from the customer. Without a 'why now,' it usually comes down to 'who has the lowest price?' or worse: 'indecision,' the sale or prospect that cannot make a decision.
I took a deep breath, after listening and said, there are 3 questions to ask, win or lose...whether it is a sale, a goal, outcome you are seeking, or a HUGE setback in life:
1. What did I learn?
2. What would I do the same?
3. What would I do different next time
First Lesson: Making it a habit to ask these 3 questions is the solution for many reasons. First, it keeps us focused on what is next instead of being stuck in the past. It keeps us out of emotional self sabotage. Let it go, let them, move on, and some of the biggest setbacks and losses in my life have been lessons in disguise!
How about you? Relationships, jobs, personal/professional/financial losses, can sometimes be 'necessary endings' and new beginnings in disguise. In life and sales there will always be ups and downs, wins and losses. If everything happens for a reason, and that reason is to serve us, we can see that we either win or we learn.
Second Lesson: What we focus on expands, win or lose. Only we can CHOOSE to move on. There is nothing wrong with a pity party, but dwelling on it for days, weeks, months, or years - can destroy us! Speaking from experience!
"I will persist until I succeed,' Og Mandino
All too often we allow your life experiences to define us. Life experiences - even the tough ones - teach us resilience, determination, empathy, lessons, and they can be gifts that allow us to serve others, a key teaching of Og Mandino and Habit Finder Coaching:
"My life experiences are my greatest asset and allow me to serve others.'
Third Lesson: Watch the blind spots, pay attention to them in sales, business development, and life: Pay attention to your intuition- think of it as a doorbell. I recall seeing some 'red flags' in the lost sale, lack of a 'why now,' and no real sponsor for our solution internally on the customers side. Most problems are not caused because people communicate too much - its because they communicate too little. Could this have been an opportunity to do more work before the customer made a final decision? In my experience, the 'gut feeling' is your subconscious mind guiding you - follow it, and remember its looking out for you! It is your fifth sense.
I think of you as a success-minded friend, and I am so excited and passionate about sharing my mission with you: to create breakthroughs in sales, confidence, and personal power...one habit at a time.
