Risk & Business Magazine Cain Insurance Spring 2016 | Page 24

7 Ways Your Ego Will Be Tested in Sales
Overcoming Sales Challenges

BY: PATRICK BET-DAVID, CEO, PHP AGENCY INC.

E

veryone has a bad salesman story.
Regardless of the product, the sales
industry over the years has been beaten up
with negative stereotypes of pushy sales
people with questionable ethics.
I’m not saying this so that you start feeling
bad for the salespeople of the world; they
often end up leading large corporations (ie:
Steve Jobs), sports franchises (ie: George
Steinbrenner), churches (ie: Billy Graham)
and even government (ie: Ronald Reagan).
What I am saying is, being in sales is a boot
camp that will tear you down and build you
up again as a leader.
I remember when I first decided to give
sales a shot back in 1999. I had just gotten
out of the Army and I decided to go work
for a health club in Culver City, California.
I thought that because I was in good
shape, it would be easy for me to sell new
memberships and that was not the case. It
merely took a week for me to realize how
much I hated sales. Years later I find myself
reflecting on how much being in sales
actually molded me into a better person
both personally and professionally.
Here are seven areas where sales will
challenge you:

1. Your EGO will be tested.

6. Laziness will be revealed.

2. Your insecurities will be revealed.

7. You’ll get paid what you’re worth based
on your own effort & determination.

This is especially tough for the “macho man”
who thinks he knows everything. Business
requires that you are able to lead a diverse
group of people. Sometimes these people
will challenge your thinking or they may
outsmart you, don’t be rattled and instead
learn from them and remind yourself of
your own individual strengths.

We all have them (Except Chuck Norris)
The truth is, getting into sales will put you
face to face with what your strengths and
weaknesses are.

3. You will face failure.

Failing is not easy and takes a toll on our
belief that we can get results. However, we
will all fail at times. Take Walt Disney for
example, who was fired by a newspaper
editor because he “lacked imagination and
had no good ideas.” Then, after a few more
of his businesses failed, came the premiere
of his movie “Snow White.” We all know
how that brand ended up.

4. Your patience will be tested.

Not everyone will buy as quickly as you’d
like. People will change their minds and
cancel their appointments with you. I’ve
always said to those I mentor that it is key to
be “aggressively patient”. As the say, patience
is a virtue.

5. You’ll have to “Face Off” with yourself.

You will be tested many times and you
might even consider throwing in the towel
at times. Often times in business and in
sales, the man in the mirror will be the most
honest person that you will encounter.
When you face off with that man you may
have to be brutally honest and make tough
decisions.

24

SPRING 2016

You can’t wing it in sales. No matter how
good you think you are, there will be lots
of hours of hard work and persistence
involved. If you are lazy by nature, there is
no doubt you will be able to check off each
of these points and realize that maybe it’s
not a product or people issue; it’s a YOU
issue.

If you’re worth $20,000 a year, then that
is what you’ll earn. But if you’re worth
$250,000 a year, that’s also what you’ll earn.
Your abilities and your effort will determine
the size and consistency of your paycheck.
To increase your income you’ll have to
increase your identity. To do that, you’ll
have to increase your personal development
intake an