Paving the Path of Perseverance

In the wake of Super Bowl XLI (that’s 41 for those of us who aren’t fluent in Roman numerals), several principles of success resonated with me; but none more than “perseverance”. Peyton Manning, the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, ended each of his first eight seasons with a loss. For almost a decade, he failed to advance his team all the way through the playoffs. Sportswriters and skeptics alike never thought this extraordinary quarterback would ever win the Super Bowl. Many wrote that he would be plagued by the “Dan Marino” curse – the great Miami Dolphins quarterback who couldn’t win the big game either. This week Peyton proved them wrong.

Mark Twain once said, "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."

I don’t think Peyton Manning is ignorant. Instead, I believe he is much too confident to talk himself out of winning. This year he demonstrated the ability to control his thoughts in the face of adversity (did you see him come back and score 31 points against the Patriots?), even when the press and many skeptics were saying he couldn’t do it. His coach, Tony Dungy, and his father, NFL great Archie Manning, both disagreed with the skeptics too. They were both great sources of encouragement to this talented quarterback. Encouraging players when times are tough is an example of the quality leadership necessary to facilitate success. And it certainly helps in persevering.

I see this same principle applied in sales everyday.

For instance, prospecting is a “wall of defeat” for many salespeople. I’ve discovered that the “inability” to develop sales leads by salespeople is quite insignificant compared to the “unwillingness” of salespeople to initiate relationships with unknown prospects. Many have a confidence problem and they easily talk themselves out of the prospecting game too early and quit – even when they’re still collecting a paycheck. This is a real challenge for businesses and sales professionals around the world. Prospecting is the lifeblood to most sales organizations. It requires planning and perseverance. An insufficient pipeline of qualified prospects leads to big problems.

However, I’ve also met a number of salespeople who are quite successful at prospecting. The common ingredient in each one was self-confidence and ignorance. However, ignorance in this case does not mean a lack of intelligence. It means a lack of understanding that some people out there don’t want to buy their products or services. Instead, these sales professionals believe that most people do want to buy what they’re offering and that they want to buy from them. They understand that it’s a process of being in front of qualified buyers at the right time and with the right message. They fail to see it any other way. To them it is just a matter of continuing to persevere knowing that eventually, they will be successful. As a Sales Manager, you too can participate in the persevering process by being an encourager to your players. Perseverance does pay off. Peyton Manning buys into that philosophy and he has a Super Bowl victory to prove it.

About the Author
Barrett Riddleberger is an internationally recognized leader in the practice of sales assessment, sales training, sales recruitment and sales consulting. He has been featured in Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine, The Sales Management Report and many others. His book, “Blueprint of a Sales Champion,” details how organizations can find, train and retain top performing salespeople… even in a highly competitive market. An accomplished author and sales consultant, Riddleberger is also highly in demand as a business development and motivational speaker for organizations seeking to drive their sales force to greater levels of performance. For more info go to www.ResolutionSystemsInc.com or www.BlueprintOfASalesChampion.com or call 336.665.0506.