The Netherlands with just 17.4 million inhabitants came out of the Olympics as the European country with the most medals won. What a performance for our small country of only 41.543 km². In more ways, the Netherlands is a champion: agriculture, exports, electronics, water management and research to name a couple.
The Dutch are also modest people. As the Dutch would say: “doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg”, which means in English: “Just act normal, that’s already crazy enough”.
So, what does all of this have to do with salespeople? I’ll try to explain by the following observations.
So often I hear salespeople complain about competition is tough, finding new customers is hard, market circumstances are difficult, Covid-19 makes it impossible to sell. Just a couple of nerve-wracking problems to name…
Let’s look at some of the Dutch achievements during time: They founded the first multi-national, Dutch East India Company in 1602 and paved the way for more to come. ASML in the province of Brabant develops and assembles photolithography machines and controls more than 60% of the market. The red star of the Heineken beer can be found in any corner of the world
They are champions in battling the sea and managing and containing mighty rivers.
And last but certainly not least: they took on much larger countries during the Olympics and delivered a wonderful result.
Even when you are faced with heavy competition and setbacks, you can win! The best athletes do among other things, the following:
Athletes fight to be better; so, should you too.
They train and train to win; in sales, you should train and learn how to win.
They have passion for what they do; you should have passion for what you do.
They never give up; you should never give up.
They take responsibility for results; so, should you.
They embrace change and learn to cope with sudden developments, so, should you.
This list can go on and on.
And to those who achieve above-average results and rest on one’s laurels, I would advise: Ga niet naast je schoenen lopen, which in English means: "Stop selling tickets on yourself", and I would add, “just carry on”.
Get out there and sell!