The Long Road to Sudden Success

I often have people tell me they are losing motivation and are sick of getting no results from their sales efforts.

They say they have been making calls ‘for weeks now’ and are barely making any forward motion.

That’s when they add that they’re ‘probably not cut out for sales, since you—Richard—close far more sales with far fewer calls and it’s just…not…working.’ They’re tired of calling every day. Surely they should have gotten a result after a solid month of trying. It can’t be that hard, so it must be them.

But they’ve overlooked one vital thing.

Over 15 years ago, I lifted the phone for the first time and started dialing. Over 15 years ago I started hearing the click of receivers being put down when I made mistakes.
“Hi, I’d like to speak with you about…” Click!
“Hello, I know you’re busy, but…” Click!
“Well, my call is regarding…” Click!
“I appreciate you don’t normally take marketing calls, but if I could just…” Click!

Tens, then hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands of calls later is where we are now.

Learning a skill doesn’t take a set amount of time. It’s open-ended. You are always improving and shaving off rough edges. Some skills don’t take as long for you to get fairly competent at them while others do. Some people are faster at picking things up than others.

But one thing is for sure: if that skill is something you need, then you mustn’t quit on it. Take the early pain. Push through the frustration. Buy the books, take the courses, rack up your hours of practice, seek advice, observe others, get mentors, analyze yourself and get feedback. Have others critique and appraise your good work and your bad. Never stop improving.

Then, sure enough, you’ll emerge, in whatever time it takes you. Yes, whatever time it takes you. Then you’ll be the one hearing others say, ‘I’ve been doing this for three whole weeks now, and I’ve had nothing.’ Know that patience is the antidote. Patience and continued improvement will get you there.

“Sudden success” doesn’t exist. Being a little lucky at times might do, but in the long run, it’s your dedication to the cause that gets you seemingly effortless performance.

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