I help founders who sell, but aren't "sales"people. Are you open to one hyper actionable sales tip per week, useful for your very next sales meeting and consumable in 4 minutes or less?
098: Fail Forward
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Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes. I’m still on my HoneyMoon right now, the below is an updated version of an article I had published on a few sites, including Business Insider, in around ~2010 (I think...) Enjoy! Fail ForwardWhen I hear the word “failure”, I think of sporting events I didn’t win, missed deadlines, and that embarrassing time I tried tying a jelly snake into a knot in my mouth. It has taken many failures to get to where I am today; it even took a few failures to get this newsletter up and running. Yet, so few people see failure in a positive light. Remember, there is Niels Bohr’s saying: “An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field” Or Stephen McCranie’s version: "The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried” Michael Jordan Widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Jordan’s bio on NBA.com describes him as ‘single-handedly redefining the NBA superstar.’ And he famously admits to failing more than most. In an iconic ad campaign by Nike, Jordan is quoted as saying he has:
And Jordan then decrees that the reason he has succeeded boils down to his constant failure and using failure as motivation for success. In other words, Jordan views failures as a stepping stone towards success. To round off, Michael Jordan’s career shooting average was just below 50%. For every successful shot he made, he also failed an attempt. Thomas Edison Considered the greatest inventor of his time. Edison was responsible for over 1,000 different patents, including some refinements of previous inventions, as well as many completely new ideas. Edison is famous not only for his inventions but also for his attitude toward failure. In his mind, failure was simply another attempt on the road to success. Unlike Michael Jordan, however, Edison’s rate of success was significantly below Jordan’s 50% average. The apocryphal story goes that Edison failed to refine the light bulb (one of the few creations he merely refined, rather than invented) so many times that it took him over 10,000 attempts to perfect it. However, rather than accepting failure 9,999 times, he is quoted as answering questions on his failures as follows: "I have not failed. I have simply found 9,999 ways that do not work." Where in your sales career will you fail forward? Until next week, PS Did someone forward you this email, and it seems like something you want more of: Link to subscribe PPS You can find the back catalogue here, all 90+ newsletters: https://thesalesmastermind.kit.com/ |
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I help founders who sell, but aren't "sales"people. Are you open to one hyper actionable sales tip per week, useful for your very next sales meeting and consumable in 4 minutes or less?
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