Every year on his birthday, my father used to say, “it’s just another day”. To most people, a birthday is a day of celebration, gifts, food, and family. Yet year after year, my father would always say his birthday was just another day, as well as most other occasions, events and holidays. I adopted this mantra and as I began a career in sales, I realized that this colloquialism soon would distinguish the winners in sales from those who will burn out on the emotional roller coaster of sales. My oldest son inspired me to blog about this topic. One day he suggested that I ought to write about the day I sold the building to Bass Pro as being ‘just another day’. He caught me! He has a glimpse into the window of how my psyche works, and the survival mindset of a 23-year salesman, trainer, and manager. This mindset specifically applies to…

my current occupation and focus in Commercial Real Estate, specializing in all aspects of Retail.

The Back Story

In December of this past year I sold one of my listings to Bass Pro Shops. Any placement of this company largely impacts local and regional economies. A showcase brand and a “Who’s Who” of retailing and brand awareness, many would consider selling a listing to this company the deal of a lifetime. However, to me, this was and will be, “just another day”. This isn’t to negate the stature of the company or the size of the deal, yet represents a winning mindset for a salesman. I also don’t want to give the misimpression that I don’t believe in celebrating successes because I did!

Why was this just another day? And why do I propose this as a winning mindset of any sales professional? An occupation in sales is a roller coaster ride. It includes ups and downs, and twists and turns. In the fee for service type sales that I am referring to, there is no floor or ceiling to your income, i.e. a roller coaster. With the quick unpredictability of the business, and lack of set income, emotions and frustrations can run high. All of the emotions can drive a person mad unless they become bridled with a winning mindset.

There are a few reasons why I believe that the ability to view each transaction, accomplishment, and day as “Just Another Day” is vital to a wining edge in the crazy business of pay for performance sales:

Psyche Matters – The mindset in which we approach our day determines the impact we will have on ourselves, and the clients that we serve. A client can sense our stress, pressures and emotions, much like a dog senses fear in a person who has a fear of dogs. This is not to say that this mindset is void of emotions. Emotions are a wonderful gift from God and they can jump start new beginnings and solidify daily choices. This kind of psyche is taking the day in stride. Realizing that the ups and downs are just another day’s work and that a day in the life of sales is part of the marathon, the business of sales is not a sprint.

Practice a Plan – Discipline leads emotion day in and day out. The essence of success in any form contains discipline as the primary driver of results. Our emotions lie to us and tell us “we are not going to make it”, “we don’t feel like it”, “if this deal unravels we have failed”, “and if this deal closes we are set!” These emotion driven ideas stray far from the truth. A career in sales is not determined by the results of one deal on any given day, or any number of deals over the course of a week. The plan however does matter. A resolve to establish a protocol of success and follow with discipline without wavering is career changing. When you have a plan you will not be tossed about, like a wave blown and tossed about in the sea.

Freedom – Having the winning mindset of seeing each day as “just another day” will often times lead to incredible opportunity. Many say that success occurs when hard work intersects with luck. Hard work in sales cannot continually be influenced by a wave of emotion that is volatile on a moment’s success, i.e. a sales or loss of a sale. Freedom in sales comes from knowing the ingredients or disciplines that it takes to be a success in the profession and continually applying them, no matter the make-up of each day.

The perfect balance of having “A Winning Mindset in Sales- (and viewing each day as) Just Another Day” is to realize that consistent discipline on any given day is the determinant of success in sales and in life.

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