Success breeds complacency. But what happens if a star sales rep stops learning? Stops challenging himself? Well, nine times out of nine, it spells T-H-E E-N-D, especially these days when business practices and technologies change at breakneck speed.
Yet, nothing is easier than talking oneself into complacency.
- I’ve already paid my dues.
- I’m incredibly successful. People should be learning from me.
- Nothing really changes in my industry.
- These new technologies are just a fad. I’ve seen them come and go.
As reasonable as some of these thoughts are, I can think of a few reasons why they should be removed from one’s head.
- What will happen down the road when your Gen X and Gen Y customers think you’re from Mars?
- What will happen when your fiercest competitors sense you’ve lost your edge?
- What will happen if the latest fad becomes the next standard, and it’s your competitor’s greatest strength?
I’ve seen sales people lose accounts because they waited too long to get cell phones (true!). Entire companies have gotten into serious trouble because they didn’t take Six Sigma seriously and were dislodged from major accounts by more aggressive competitors who did. Large matters or small, vigilance is a must!
New Year’s Resolution!
I’ll be smart, stay hungry, and keep my edge. It trumps dumb, fat, and happy every time.
Hi Brad
There is an old saying: “When you’re through changing, you’re through!”
I’ve never personally worked in sales, so I am not an authority on the topic from a sales perspective. However, I would imagine that sales and marketing professionals are under considerably greater pressure to adapt to change than many of the rest of us.
There would be two situations where I would imagine it would be appropriate for a sales and marketing professional (or any other professional) to stop learning and challenging themselves:
(1) You are on the verge of retirement and plan to spend the rest of your life sipping champagne on the beaches of the world.
(2) Neither the needs or the business processes of your current or prospective clients is expected to undergo any form of change whatsoever be it now or in the future.
For the majority of sales and marketing professionals, (and other professionals) continuous professional development appears to be the way to go. Those seminars, product launches, trade journals and networking opportunities still seem to be a good idea to me.
Cheers
Andrew
Thanks for the insights, Andrew. One thing about those successful folks sipping champagne … it’s funny how they are the ones who are eager to adapt, change, and grow. I wonder if there’s a connection? Your second point could be the subject of a book. My old industry, packaging, is one which changes slowly, seemingly anyway. It’s very tricky, because getting too far ahead of the customers is dangerous, but changing nothing is maybe more dangerous.