1. I’m grateful for my prospect who tells me my price is too high. It forces me to get better at communicating my value and the value that my company’s solution will bring them.
2. I’m grateful for the prospect who won’t call me back. They remind me of how much work it takes to build a relationship. I’m motivated not to slack in any way on my relationships with my current clients for I don’t want them calling my competitors back. And, I am grateful of the reminder to persevere; I am not giving up on that prospect that won’t call me back – I will continue to work to uncover the problem I can solve for them.
3. I am grateful for that deal I lost. I got outsold. Period. It wasn’t fun, and I was not proud. But I am grateful for the adjustments that it forced me to make when I thought about what I didn’t do to the very best of my ability. Lesson learned, and I am not doing that again.
4. I’m grateful for the customer who demands “too much”. They push me to find a better, faster, more effective way of solving their problems. They challenge me to innovate and think in new and different ways.
5. I am grateful for the client complaints. Every time my client complains, it’s like receiving a gold brick. It’s a gift that makes me and my company better because of the changes we need to make to meet our customer needs and wants.
6. I’m grateful for the times my sales manager “tuned me up”. Although I thought he was a jerk and had more than a few choice words about him on my way home from work, I am so appreciative of the tough feedback. Through this, I learned that we both want to win, that he really wants to help me succeed, and that his coaching is exactly what I need.
7. I’m grateful for the quota board. I want to win. I want to be the best. It’s a love/hate relationship with this report sometimes, but I can’t imagine being a successful sales rep without one.
8. I am grateful for that “rock star” sales person in the company who always sits at the top of the quota board. So… she really wasn’t given any “bluebirds” and she really doesn’t have a better territory. She’s just darn good. And so, I am grateful that I have an idol and someone to emulate and strive to be as good as!
9. I am grateful for our CFO who says "No" to my price concession requests. He reminds me that anyone can sell a $5.00 Jaguar. He also reminds me that we provide a lot of value to our customers and should be fairly compensated for it.
10. I am grateful for that newly hired sales guy who asks a million questions. While he does take a lot of my time, he forces me to articulate what we do, what our value proposition is, how we are different and why our customers love us. Sometimes, it’s not easy to answer him, and it really should be. He makes me better.
11. I am grateful for our just-out-of-school new sales reps. They are hungry and full of energy. Their need for speed, innovation, feedback and change remind me to stay current with technology, with the industry trends, and to never get complacent.
12. I’m grateful for the rapid rate of change inside our company. While I am not a raving fan of having to learn new systems, new reporting structures and take on more tasks, I am grateful for the fact that my company executives are asking the right questions around how customer needs and expectations require these changes. As a result, I am growing in so many ways.
13. I’m grateful for my competitors. Sometimes because they make me look sooo good and sometimes because they make me up my game. Either way, I win!
14. I’m grateful for the increased expectations of me as I look at this new year’s quota. If my quota and expectations were not increasing, then I would not be growing, and my company would not be a growth company.
15. I am grateful to be in sales. There is nothing more rewarding than solving my customers’ problems and I get to do it every day!
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on the year and all the blessings you have received. It is a time to say thank you to those who have impacted your life in a positive way and a time to think about how you can make a difference in the lives of those around you in the coming year.
All of us at Butler Street would like to thank you for allowing us a little corner of your world each Monday morning. We hope that we’ve helped you grow. You have definitely helped us grow and for that we are very grateful!
Happy Thanksgiving
Upcoming Regional Workshops:
