Anyone paying attention to the news these days can find both encouraging and discouraging signs all around us. The same is true in business. I see this in the conversations I have with sales managers about how to drive performance in their sales departments.
Challenges are Opportunities
Every sales operation has challenges and each one of those presents an opportunity. The challenges exist for a variety of reasons; marketplace conditions, competition, new product launches and more. Some leaders get consumed with the challenges while others focus on the opportunities.
I want to be a person who is constantly thinking what if we did this and why not give this a shot. And I want to be around other “what if and why not” people. Don’t fall into the trap of “why not and what if.” You know what this sounds like—people who are always thinking about why it won’t work or what if we try that cool idea and it fails.
What To Do
Here’s my advice. Look at your challenges with a passing glance, consider the opportunities before you, develop ideas and pick a few to pursue. Don’t overthink those or invite “why not and what if” people into the conversation. In our current business climate, you need to be a “what if and why not” person. The seismic changes all around us are creating unprecedented opportunity—don’t allow the squashers in your life the chance to stifle all those possibilities.
It’s ok if a few of the things you try, fail. The victory is in the lessons learned in the pursuit. You’ll keep learning and applying those lessons to each idea as you move forward.
Download the rules of brainstorming and start dreaming up possibilities.
