[Sales 101] If you walk long enough, sooner or later you'll step on shit

[Sales 101] If you walk long enough, sooner or later you'll step on shit

I take cab a lot. I find that all many cab drivers have foul mood. It irritates me when I get on a cab to have the cab driver complaining this, cursing that, rattling on and on.

I met such a cab driver recently. He was cursing at this driver, cursing at that pedestrian, getting totally angry. Now that didn't really help me as I was on my way to a sales call. And this guy was really affecting my mood. So as polite as I could, I asked if I could share a story with him.

There was once two monks who left the temple on a chore. At the river, the two monks met a girl. She explained she was having difficulty crossing the river. The senior monk offered to carry the girl across the river. At the other bank, the senior monk bid the girl farewell and continued on his journey with the junior monk. The two monks continued on their way. They crossed two mountains, but the junior monk was very upset. He could not hold it anymore and he confronted the senior monk.

"Senior, I thought monks are not supposed to have any physical contact with girls. Why did you carry that girl across the river?" The junior monk was clearly upset and confused.

The senior monk calmly replied, "Junior, I had already let go of the girl at the river bank. Why are you still carrying her in your head even after 2 mountains?"

This story is about attachment. It applies to so many areas of our lives.

And it applies to the cab driver. The car had cut your path 20km ago, why are you still upset over that? The cab driver told me he had been driving a cab for more than 10 years. So really, the point is this: If you have been driving for more than 10 years, you should know that if you drive on the road long enough, sooner or later you will be cut by another car, sooner or later you will be cut by a pedestrian jay walking. If you are going to be upset by that, should you consider changing job?

How does this relate to sales?

You're in the service line. Sooner or later, you will bump into an unreasonable client. Sooner or later, you will have a "done deal" slip away. Sooner or later, you will close a deal but get no commission. You must understand that this is the nature of your job and accept it. I find this one of the hardest aspect of sales. Especially so in B2B sales, where we are supposed to be professionals. We are supposed to be "equals", sharing useful information and offering multiple solutions to the client's challenges. That is still true. But. If you walk long enough, sooner or later you'll step on shit.

Be mentally prepared.

When shit happens, wash it away.. and just let it go. Don't carry it in your head for the rest of the day.