“Companies have never won. You’re always either fighting for survival, or fighting for relevance.”
– Aeron Levie
An illustration in the Scripture tells about the worthless nature of salt that has lost its taste. The salt will be valueless and be trampled underfoot. On the contrary, the salt that maintains its salty taste stands tall in the time of evaluation.
Light is relevant if it can glow in darkness, but will lose its importance when darkness overpowers it. Light must illuminate, in order to remain relevant. This confirms the fact that you cannot continue to be relevant if you fail to perform. As a sales and marketing practitioner, I believe that performance equals relevance. The more you perform, the higher you go.
Selling is about performance
Sales managers love results. Sales is about giving value and taking value. This is how to achieve the right results. The world of sales talks about excellent performance. You must be seen to be going the extra mile in your quest to make a difference.
You must maintain your relevance if you truly want to maintain an enviable position in your industry. No coach changes a winning team. The best player will always play the match. Your duty anywhere you find yourself is to work hard to be among the best. This is what this article seeks to achieve. Take a decision to succeed and do your best to achieve your goals.
It takes high performance to maintain your relevance in an official or business setting. This principle applies in other settings too. What takes you to the position of relevance is topnotch performance. And you will maintain that relevance if you continue to turn out good results.
In politics, if you stop performing or no longer fulfilling your campaign promises, the electorates will simply change their minds in the next election. This scenario also plays out in many other settings. A salesman who is weak in field performance may risk losing his job. A football player in a crucial match is replaced immediately if his performance is below expectation. The list goes on and on.
Performance determines reward
One of our clients who expanded into the FMCG space recently gave us a recruitment assignment to employ goal-oriented sales professionals. We usually ask to know remuneration package before going on with such a task. The response we got from the client is an affirmation that performance determines reward. Our client said, ‘‘George, we are new in this industry and we want to play big. Get us high-fliers; we are ready to reward them handsomely once they know how to get results.’’ The brief was straight to the point and we got it!
Earl Nightingale said, “The amount you are paid will be determined by three things: The work you do; how well you do that work; and the difficulty of replacing you.” Abraham Lincoln adds, ‘‘The only security a person can have is the ability to do a job uncommonly well.’’ I totally agree with these authorities.
Top Performance is not negotiable in sales job. In sales, we don’t tell stories; you must be outstanding at what you do to be relevant. People with a history of poor output may not excel in their sales job or any other career path.
Low output, most times, is caused by the negative attitude of the individual. If you want to improve your productivity, you must first of all develop a mindset that believes you can get to the top. It is when you agree with your inner-self that your capabilities will begin to manifest.
You will maintain your relevance when you continuously show an attitude of excellence. You must show your organisation that the toil of replacing you will be higher than the cost of retaining you. This is the way to maintain your relevance. Achieving uncommon result doesn’t come easily; it only comes to a prepared and determined person. Individuals who achieve exceptional results are the pride of every organization. Organisations are usually not in a hurry to lose their best staff.
Take a decision to be outstanding
Success is a function of decision. The path to success is a choice. You must follow the path that leads to success – if you truly want to be outstanding in your industry. There’s no shortcut to success; it takes working hard and smart to be successful. This truth stands out anywhere in the world.
Try not to be a usual salesman or professional; always show an element of a champion in you. To be successful in the sales world, you must be intentional about brilliant products and services. You must be deliberate about assembling the right team. You must be intentional about training and retraining your sales team. You must be deliberate about your strategy and organisational culture.
Distinguish yourself and stand out in what you do. Most of the people who make it in life have an attitude of consistency in value creation and the ability to attain exceptional results irrespective of their circumstances. Believe in you and turn things around. The good news is that you can start today to make a difference. Just start!
Please reach us today for cutting-edge training of your sales team and workforce. We are accredited by Nigerian Council For Management Development. Order a set of our seven bestselling books and one audio book @ normal price of N25, 500 only and get autographed copies and free delivery anywhere in Nigeria! Please call, 08186083133, 07060559429 or visit, www.thesellingchampionconsulting.com, or www.nigeriasalesconference.com
Buy Books by George O. Emetuche from bookshops or super stores near you:
- The Selling Champion.
- The Art of Selling.
- The 25 Unbreakable Laws of Sales.
- The 11 Irrefutable Principles of Success.
- Everything is Possible.
- Be Inspired.
- Succeeding With Your Spouse.
