This article from the New York Times, makes this point perfectly. A study in England was conducted on top athletes to see just how far they might push themselves when they were deceived about their own best performance. Using a computer generated avatar, cyclists were told that they were competing against their best performance, demonstrated on screen in front of them, with a second avatar showing how they were performing during the exercise, against their best performance. The “best performance” speed however, was actually inflated by 1% above their best time.

In the experiment the cyclists ended up matching the faster avatar, performing better than they ever had before. I’ve long believed that our lessons in the field of sports performance translate beautifully to the field of business. This example is classic.

“It comes back to the belief system within the athlete,” Dr. Thompson said. Within limits, if an athlete thinks a certain pace is possible, he or she can draw on an energy reserve that the brain usually holds in abeyance.

What limiting beliefs interfere with your success? What could you accomplish, in business or in life, if you removed mental barriers you have never before questioned?

My favorite is the waiting game. Excuse-driven sales people typically want something additional to sell (we need a broader product line), or they want the next generation of the existing product (we need the latest features in order to compete), or something similar.

What amazes me is how often executives buy these excuses. A division director was once telling me that his team couldn’t sell the existing unit until they had some complementary products. He then went one step further and compared it to a car. He literally said this to me: “It’s like having a sedan but lacking a truck or SUV in your product line. You need to have the whole product line in order to sell the sedan.” I replied: “No you absolutely do not. A good sales person will sell the sedan to the people shopping for sedans. A great sales person will also sell the sedan to the people shopping for trucks and SUVs!”

Don’t let your organization fall victim to the waiting game. Ask yourself and more importantly your sales team this question: “What can you accomplish with what we have on hand today?” Forget about what you don’t have or haven’t developed yet. If your team believes they need something more then perhaps you haven’t properly identified your target market. Who is the target market for your existing (not future) product line?

Make sure your sales team is focused on selling products and services, not excuses.

Need an outside perspective? I offer business coaching as well as consulting. Contact me to learn more!

Knowing he was talking with me because his product wasn’t selling, I had only one question: “How do you know it’s working?” Doing something is not the same as doing effective things. If you aren’t seeing results in revenue then your sales approach isn’t working and it’s time to reconsider your strategy, or execution of that strategy.

Some people disagree with the notion that you must experience failure in order to succeed, but that’s not what Glenn meant. Rather, you must be willing to set goals that are audacious enough to stretch you beyond your comfort zone. You must be willing to attempt those things that are important and meaningful, but which you aren’t certain you can accomplish.

Anyone can set goals they already know they can achieve. The people who succeed big in life are those who set goals they don’t know can be reached, but they go after them anyway, and with gusto.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness and genius, power and magic in it! ~Goethe

Dream big, aim high!
Jen

( P.S. Thanks to Glenn Swift, for the ongoing support, long after MBA school.)

It’s safe to say I’ve been consulting and coaching my entire life. The fact that these skills are so innate may well be the reason I haven’t formalized my consulting business before now.

After many years of side projects working with countless individuals, start ups, and small to medium sized businesses, the case for making this a full time business and opening up my services to the general public was an easy one.

In this particular instance, I had just wrapped up a consulting engagement and decided just to toss the idea of formalizing my business out to a few colleagues. Within 48 hours I had no fewer than 4 meeting requests from business owners interested in hiring me. That universal response was clear enough for even the densest among us.

So I grabbed a domain, had my talented friend and colleague Michael Wender put a simple site together, ordered a few business cards and put my own advice to work for myself!

So as Jen Roth Consulting formally says “Hello” to the world, the world has already responded with a resounding: “We’ve been expecting you.” I do love a warm welcome, and I’m looking forward to sharing some of the information and knowledge I’ve acquired through the years with you here.