“When you pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud, too” – Denzel
It must’ve been around 2004 or 2005. My brother and I were having Mexican food and shooting the breeze in the SOMA District of San Francisco.
We started talking about challenges at work.
At the time I was slinging mortgages and living high on the hog. I distinctly remember being so proud for having stumbled into what I thought was my calling.
I spent years as an artist with limited funds and even though some days in the mortgage biz were doozies, I hit the mother-load.
That night over my generous portions of Tequila, I said out loud with all the confidence in the world – “I’ll always close deals in this business”.
Big bro didn’t soapbox or bat an eye.
He simply mentioned I be careful with my money because the money train never lasts.
Naturally, I didn’t think much of it.
After all, as the older, wiser, more responsible one who had his act together at young age, what could he possibly know?
Let Go of My Ego
Around that time, I got a plus size boost to my ego.
Over a meal with a colleague, he imparted to me that while in a meeting with the brass, he’d gotten a peek at the standings.
It turns out I had one of the highest closing ratios out of 30-40 agents in the company.
As in any sales organization, the bosses kept track of the numbers, but at the time, allergic to sales metrics – I did not.
Apparently, I was on fire and didn’t even know it.
All I knew is that I partied hard and closed even harder.
During those days, if you closed, nothing else mattered and as long as you were making it rain, you had carte blanche.
The Tuna Meltdown and Challenges of 2007
When the global 2007 financial crisis hit, it was a breakdown of epic proportions.
My crew and I bounced around from shop to shop waiting for a miracle whilst rearranging deck chairs on The Titanic.
Eventually the mortgage thing became unsustainable. The banks weren’t lending or hiring and borrowers were running for cover.
Everyone that had lived the dream in 100% commission Sales was looking for work in a saturated market and it felt like no one wanted anything to do with hiring our kind.
There were just too many of us hot shots competing for the same opportunities.
Of course, big bro was right and his words about our industry resonated.
We’d been getting high on our own supply and it was time for payback.
Step Back to Move Forward
So, I had to do the unthinkable.
Moved in with moms, took an embarrassingly low-paying salary sales gig in an adjacent financial services industry and started saving my measly commission checks.
Then and now, I’m thankful that I had a place to fall back and didn’t lose cars or houses like a lot of people did in those years.
Instead, I ate crow for nearly two and a half years and kept believing that there was a better way out.
Without knowing how, where or when, I held on to the notion there had to be something greater in store for me.
The work was mind-numbing, the products and back-office support laughable.
I didn’t have much choice. I had to man-up while searching and waiting for something else.
And no, I couldn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound nor could I reinvent the wheel and call it a rhombus.
But, I knew I could sell and it was just a matter of finding out where to plug-in to get the juice.
Help Self Save Self
In the meantime, I lay trapped in the suburbs and felt unique just like everybody else.
And, in those days, there’s nothing anyone could’ve said to me to make me feel better about my plight.
No crafty combination of vowels and consonants could convince me that everything would be okay.
The only thing I had going for me was heart and although I was beat down, I wasn’t defeated.
There’s No Business Like Sales Business
Today, I’m not floating on top of any rainbows but I’m on the right path as long as I keep putting in the work.
By managing multiple projects, I’m batting down hatches and building reinforcements that will yield dividends for the long run.
Don’t get it twisted though.
I’m not advocating spreading yourself too thin and cheating on the time and energy necessary to master one domain.
I’m simply stating that you keep a couple few irons in the fire in case of Armageddon and unforeseen challenges.
Trust Yourself
Your self-reliance and ability to keep moving forward when times are tough are the only things you can count on in a sales career.
It’s guaranteed to be a tilt-a-whirl often leaving you wondering why you put yourself through the rigors.
The best course of action is to conquer the challenges and impress yourself.
And if you happen to prove the naysayers wrong in the process, it’s a win-win.
On your journey, you’ll find things out about yourself you never knew existed and will become a better person for it.
Rock On
From sales jockey to Biz Dev Manager. Manager to VP of Sales, Sales Leader, Mentor or Coach. Management Consultant to Founder, CEO or partner; make this road your middle name.
Why?
Because you weren’t born to be average.