- “I will win them over. It may be by persuasion, persistence, or
importunity—but I will win them over.” - “Records are made to be broken.”
- “I know I can do this better than the next person.”
At the risk of tripping up readers who have been quite successful in
sales careers and feel they have not been intrinsically motivated by a com-
petitive nature, I will say that you are few and far between. Anyone who is
comfortable losing is a long shot for success in a sales-oriented profes-
sional. Why? Because the profession is filled with extremely competitive
personalities who will take advantage of your every mistake, weakness, and
oversight. Unless you have a distinct advantage in skill or networking, you
are going to need a competitive nature to survive. I’m reminded of the rid-
dle, “How do you beat Tiger Woods?” The answer, “Don’t play him in golf.”
If you expect to survive in a world of skilled competitors, and you yourself
cannot match their skill or competitiveness, then you’d better move to a
field where your skill level is superior.
When you get down to truth of survival in a capitalist society, every per-
son in every job must keep a competitive edge to survive—not just those in
the sales profession. The tacit challenge of others who have their eye on
your job or on your market share is always in the air, no matter what the
profession.
The fact of a competitive foundation in a free-market society bothers
many educators in our society who, lacking a competitive nature, are deeply
disturbed by the reality that a competitive nature is critical to success.
These individuals have done their best to sterilize learning and youth
sports of the competitive spirit and have performed a disservice in the
process. As an eighth grade basketball coach, I marveled at the inane pol-
icy of mandating equal playing time for all players, regardless of both skill
level and work ethic. Players who didn’t work in practice were rewarded
and those who were skilled and worked harder than the rest were pun-
ished. This is hardly what one could call “career preparation.”
When the competitive nature becomes destructive to relationships, how-
ever, it is harmful. Again, it is a matter of balance. Successful sales profes-
sionals have found proper and fitting expressions for their competitive
drives.
The study referred to earlier in this chapter also noted that half of the
sales professionals in financial services “traced back their individual success
mentality to involvement with sports and athletics in their childhood.” One
interviewee put it this way, “I can’t ever remember not wanting to succeed at
something, delivering newspapers or magazine subscriptions, playing base-
ball, skipping rocks with my brother. I’ve always had a competitive streak.”
120 SELLING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE