Special Excerpt From “How to be a Success Champion”
Chapter 10 Learning The Hard Way By Donnie Boivin
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s I started selling commercial printing, they gave me a desk, a computer, and a phone and told me to go sell. My boss Jane often said, “If you need anything from me let me know, but go sell!” She hired me because the current sales team would not focus on the new style of printing the company had started. They wanted to stay with the old style, traditional printing. There was a complete sales department with ten or twelve people and a VP of sales. But I reported to Jane. This really pissed off the VP of sales. It was a tough spot to be in; trying to learn something new but being caught up in company politics. But it was a great crash course. I had no clue where to start. I called my brother who’d been a successful salesperson for many years and said, “What the hell do I do?” He laughed and walked me through what prospecting was and gave me a general idea of a how a cold call should go down, but really wasn’t a lot of help. Love ya bro. Later in life, he helped me figure out networking. In his field, he was known as one of the top go-to guys for anything and most companies he worked for hired him for his connections. I called my uncle who was the self-
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proclaimed patriarch of the family and had had a successful career in banking for years. He was a cold, direct guy who talked at you, never with you. “You’re crazy to get into sales Donnie. Go get a real job,” he said. That wasn’t any help either. He did help me with my career later in life but it took him a while to see me as a professional instead of the punk kid he watched grow up. I had to figure out the sales thing on my own. I hit the internet to see what I could find and I started researching everything I could to learn about sales. There are a lot of idiots out there that talk about their sales skills. Most of it is bullshit and doesn’t work for a multitude of reasons. But mainly they just want to sell you their shit.
Sales is just a conversation with an outcome. You either get to a yes, or you get to a no. And both answers are right. Stop overcomplicating things with too many processes and systems. Find your own unique style and process. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Find one that focuses on you and your mental fortitude and helps you get out of your own way. If that way only teaches tactics, look for something else. You need something
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