When I was in fourth grade, I spent almost every Sunday afternoon at Starlite Skating Rink. There was a kid named Duane from another school that was usually there also. He was about as good of a skater as I was. Not bad, but not very good either. We both rented skates - which was an unofficial demarcation of the good and bad skaters – and usually hung out together the whole time.
Once baseball season started, I stopped skating every Sunday and didn’t see Duane again for months. During the next fall, at the beginning of fifth grade, one of my friends invited me to a birthday party they were having at Starlite on a Sunday afternoon. Shortly after we arrived, I saw Duane. He looked the same but had his own skates, and he was amazing. The kid was flawless and fast on the rink (I think he was showing off for me). When I asked him how he’d gotten so good, I implied that it was his new skates. I remember him being very mature in his response: “No, I just got these a few weeks ago. I think I’ve gotten better because I’ve been skating every Sunday for over a year. You’d be just as good as me if kept at it.”
Perhaps the most brilliance per pound of any human in history. Every single Sunday for over a year – more than 10% of his life – he was skating. Of course, he’s going to improve.
No matter how much the b2b buying process has changed, I still believe that the most important ingredient to sales success is persistence. Wake up and keep pushing forward. However, there is another word – an adjective – that exponentially multiplies the effect of persistence. What’s the word?
Consistent.
There is nothing more powerful in the craft of selling than consistent persistence. Nothing. If you stop reading or watching my content (which I hope you don’t), you’ll be fine if you wake up and do the same thing every single day. Persistence is important, but consistent persistence will change the trajectory of your life. Avoid the distractions. Keep the discipline. Do the small things, but do them every single hour / day / week and watch the wins pour in!
