Welcome back to the ABC of Sales! We're past 'E' for 'Energy' (which, let's be honest, is usually a frantic scramble), and landing squarely on 'F' for Faith.
Now, before you think I’m about to launch into a sermon, hear me out. In the brutal, beautiful world of sales, faith isn't just a nice-to-have; it's the assurance that you will meet your target even when it is completely invisible at the moment. Think of it as believing in a paycheck that, frankly, looks like a mythical creature right now.
My personal 'F' moment happened right after a period I like to call my "Three-Month Performance Improvement Prison" (or PIP, for those in the know). I’d barely scraped out alive, mainly because a sudden "changing of the guard" at the top rattled the whole company like a snow globe. Thankfully, the ensuing chaos meant everyone probably forgot about little old me and my subpar performance metrics. Survival by corporate amnesia? I’ll take it!
The 'Sealed' Deal and the Six-Times Dream
January rolled around, and I was doing the bare minimum—the sales equivalent of a sloth on a treadmill. Then, our ever-optimistic Business Manager dropped a request: write down our biggest aspiration for the year. This was no casual exercise; these aspirations would be sealed in envelopes, only to be read aloud to the team 12 months later. Talk about an accountability gauntlet!
Considering my career was clinging on by a thread, I figured, "Go big or go back to the unemployment line." On that piece of paper, I penned two audacious goals:
To become a known name in the industry. (From PIP pariah to industry pioneer? Why not?)
To achieve sales worth SIX TIMES my monthly target.
When I committed that to paper, it felt like I’d just bet my entire life savings on a horse named "Long Shot." But here’s the unexpected twist: that fresh chaos in the company was a hidden blessing. We poached talent from other companies, and, as colleagues left, I suddenly had a fresh crew, new contacts, and a chance to learn skills I didn't even know existed. For a newbie whose only prior knowledge was nine months in one company, it was like being handed the cheat codes to the sales universe.
The Slow Climb to the Summit
True to my desire (and the terrifying prospect of that envelope being opened), I got to work. Did I hit six times the target in month one? Nope. But over the next 12 months, I hit two times the target value in specific months. That felt like a massive win. Then, over time, that grew to four times. And finally, a glorious 26 months after sealing that ridiculously ambitious dream in an envelope, I hit the six times target.
It wasn't a sprint; it was a slow, sometimes painful climb powered by pure, unadulterated faith.
This journey taught me that sales, more than any other job I’ve held, is a Faith’s Job. It forces you to trust not just in your product, but in a future that isn't yet visible. It's proof that our thoughts and aspirations are tangible things that we bring to fruition through action—even if that action starts with just surviving a PIP.
You, too, can grow in this space. It doesn't have to be a daunting task. Write the dream, trust the process, and take the steps. Have faith; you can thrive.
Do you want to share a story about a time when faith (or perhaps sheer desperation!) helped you close a tough sale?
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