The panic merchant

The best time to “get urgent” is when you least need to.

Complacency is ubiquitous and also highly contagious. I see too many sales teams merely moving through the motions with no accountability or consequence. There is little pride in what they do and few are prepared to fight for what they believe in.

Someone in your company needs to be ‘the panic merchant’. This person shouldn’t necessarily always be the CFO; though most are adept in its dark arts. You’ve got to get urgent for your own outcomes. Be hungry and sell like your life depends on it. Not all the time, but at the very least when you need to.

Countless businesses underperform because no one is urgent enough or not enough people are urgent enough. There is no ’cause’, individually or collectively. “I get paid anyway, so why push too hard?” many say. What a depressing reality that is. Be the cause, not the sum of things that affect you.

Each day I get up, I’m sometimes weary, but always hungry. I drive my business irrespective of targets and commission cheques. I do it because I want to, not because I have to. And I’d rather get urgent now, than later, when I need to. Proactive urgency is powerful. Reactive urgency often defaults to desperation. And no one likes a desperado, so come to your senses.

I remember hearing Michael Jordan in an interview say, “When the game is on the line with only seconds left on the clock, I want the ball.” In fact, he demanded it. Jordan thrived on pressure and immortalised himself because of it.
Do you want the ball?

If so you’ll have to fight for it, so go out there and get amongst it. When opportunity knocks on your door you need to be ready for it. The most effective way I know to prepare for success is through hard work, discipline and urgency.

For more Selling Strategies advice, click here.

Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of BOOM Sales! a leading sales training and sales development specialist. He is also the creator of The NAKED Salesman, BOOMOLOGY! RetroService, and the Empathy Selling Process.