Damien called to tell me that The Habit of Celebrating Success has played an enormous role in transforming him from a mediocre performer to the top producer in his division.

Damien earns his living by selling high-end technical products to folks in the energy industry. He has been doing this for seven years and spent the first four of those years “hanging on by his fingertips”.

He attributed his struggle to two trials he faced daily:
1. He was not seeing enough people.
2. He was buying more than he was selling.

His first challenge – not seeing enough people – is one that is commonly shared by many salespeople. Like so many of us, Damien does not handle rejection very well and a good way to prevent it is to not place yourself in its path.

No salesperson can be successful without customers and Damien’s discomfort with rejection prevented him from making calls, attending networking events and avoiding social functions which could place him in a position where he could face negative or critical responses to this approach.

Naturally, not having many potential customers to call upon, led to Damien having few client interactions and therefore, very few sales.

When Damien did find himself in front of a potential customer, he frequently made the mistake of “buying more than he was selling.”

When Damien had begun his sales career his initial trainer had taught him that in any sales presentation there is always a sale being made. Either he was selling the customer on why he/she should buy his products or the customer was selling him on why he/she shouldn’t.

Damien had developed the habit of accepting any and every objection the customer presented without any attempt at rebuttal. If the customer told him that was too expensive, Damien accepted this. If a customer told him they had no need for the product, Damien accepted this too. And if the customer told him his products were inferior to those of his competitors, Damien offered no retort.

Which put Damien in the role of being the buyer far more often than being the seller.

One day, in confiding his despair to a friend who was experiencing great success in a different industry, Damien received a piece of advice that changed his life forever.

His friend pointed out that Damien did not create enough causes for celebration in his life. He explained to Damien that each and every time something good happened in his career – he secured a meeting with a new potential client, he did a presentation and felt he had excelled, he closed a sale, large or small – he always took time to celebrate his success.

Sometimes the celebration was nothing more than a figurative pat on the back, other times it might be treating himself to a long wanted gift or a much desired break.

He explained that it was not how he celebrated each success that mattered it was THAT he celebrated each victory that mattered.

Damien immediately decided to adopt The Habit of Celebrating Success into his everyday work life. He exchanged his fear of rejection for the anticipation of celebration and started to celebrate each tiny success as a gigantic victory.

It didn’t take long before no day was complete without experiencing the joyous rush of celebration three times, then five times, and even 10 or more times each day.

Then a strange thing happened. As Damien contacted more and more people, he booked more and more sales appointments and at each of those meetings he constantly reminded himself that he was there as the seller and not as the buyer.

And his sales began to climb, and climb and climb. Within eight months he was the top producer in his office and eighteen months later, the top producer in his division.

He has remained in that position ever since and his sights are now firmly set on being the top performer in his company by the end of this year.

He passionately celebrates every victory in all areas of his life and has encouraged his young children to do the same resulting in them bringing home glowing report cards from their teachers.

Damien playfully explained to me that he really changed very little in his life. Whereas before adopting The Habit of Celebrating Success he used to celebrate every failure by feeling miserable, he now celebrates every success by feeling wonderful, “so really, all I changed was the direction of my celebration.”

If that’s all it takes – just a simple change of direction – let’s all do it.

Deal?

Let’s make a habit of meeting like this.</strong>

My book Life Sinks or Soars – the Choice is Yours now has its very own website. Please visit us at www.lifesinksorsoars.com and let me know what you think.