Double your failure rate, said Tom Watson, CEO of IBM
Double your failure rate.
Why would anyone want to fail in the first place?
Well, let's face it. To build a business, there are many things that need to get done:
These are all questions of time and money. How much of the former vs the latter is a never ending part of our business lives. There are relationships that will look awesome at first, but turn out to be disappointments. The opposite is true. Some campaigns will work, and you will need to find out what were the factors that made a difference, to repeat the success.
Selling is an art and a science. It takes time, determination, planning, organization. It also requires courage and patience. A lot of patience. One more thing we have to acknowledge is that we will fail many times. The prospect will seem interested, but won't buy. Or he will ask for a refund later on.
An IBM sales person asked Tom Watson, the IBM CEO at the time, what he needed to do to get better results. Watson simply answered: "Double your failure rate." Which meant to put fears aside, to go out there and find new customers as much as possible.
That's the essence of professionalism. To keep going, no matter what. At the end of the day, you'll be glad you did. So, if/when you feel discouraged because things didn't work out as planned, remember these simple words:
"Double your failure rate."
Why would anyone want to fail in the first place?
Well, let's face it. To build a business, there are many things that need to get done:
- Administrative tasks.
- Building relationships.
- Developing or choosing products/services to promote.
- Where/when to advertise.
- Budget decisions that impact everything we do.
- Doing it ourselves or outsourcing.
These are all questions of time and money. How much of the former vs the latter is a never ending part of our business lives. There are relationships that will look awesome at first, but turn out to be disappointments. The opposite is true. Some campaigns will work, and you will need to find out what were the factors that made a difference, to repeat the success.
Selling is an art and a science. It takes time, determination, planning, organization. It also requires courage and patience. A lot of patience. One more thing we have to acknowledge is that we will fail many times. The prospect will seem interested, but won't buy. Or he will ask for a refund later on.
An IBM sales person asked Tom Watson, the IBM CEO at the time, what he needed to do to get better results. Watson simply answered: "Double your failure rate." Which meant to put fears aside, to go out there and find new customers as much as possible.
That's the essence of professionalism. To keep going, no matter what. At the end of the day, you'll be glad you did. So, if/when you feel discouraged because things didn't work out as planned, remember these simple words:
"Double your failure rate."
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Comments (9)
Philippe Moisan16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Gwen, it was a pleasure writing it :)
Philippe Moisan16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Good point, QueenMaa, that's absolutely true :)
Maketta A.7
Internet Marketer
You can also learn from the mistakes you have made too.
Philippe Moisan16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Cheryl, Joseph, thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. :)
Joseph Botelho15
Working on one project at a time.
Phil selling is an art with out a doubt, when l was working for General Motors as a trainer in this specific field. I always notice the top performance where well trained and also continue update there training either by reading books on the subject attending work shops etc.
Selling take many years to perfect just like anything else we do in life even a horse has to be trained to drink water at times.
Good article great key points you have shared with all of us..
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
It makes perfect sense. If you are failing twice as often It means that you have made twice as many attempts as you were making. Each attempt is an opportunity for not only failure but also success.
Philippe Moisan16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Thanks, Roosevelt. Yes, it can be seen in that light too. :)
Roosevelt Evans III10
Home Business Entrepreneur
"Double your failure rate" seems to me to be another way of saying "keep trying, don't give up". Great article!