In the widest possible context, the wealth of a nation is totally dependent on the ability of business within its community to sell their products and services, just as every job within every business is totally dependent for their existence on the sales function’s ability to sell. The sales function is equally totally dependent on the sales ability of each and every member of the sales team. If these individuals do not perform then the organisation does not perform and in turn, if organisations do not perform then the nation does not perform. Do or die. However, it is unlikely that a nation will die due to lack of performance of business… there are too many good businesses to let this happen, but what would happen to the nation if each business could increase their results by just a few percentage points. What effect will this have on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product? Obviously sales success is dependent on many factors, but no matter how well an organisation covers these other factors, if their sales function is less than effective then the organisation will not be effective. Effectiveness is measured in terms of each individual salesperson’s ability to close business - to get the deal. Therefore, it can be argued that the wealth of a nation is dependent on the skills of a relatively small number of people’s ability to win business – so many people dependent on so few. Given this dependency, it is very surprising how little attention is given by business to developing the individual skills and knowledge of their sales force and in turn how little effort is made by sales professionals to hone their own skills. A nation takes pride in sports success, in the success of their performing artists and in the success of business. If we look at both sports people and performing artists, we will see that each individual takes responsibility for their own success… they practice their skills for hours a day to perfect them so that when they have to perform they are at their best. They will push themselves to be the best. However, in the business world it is totally the opposite… very little training is undertaken; rehearsing before an important event – such as a sales presentation – is unheard of and rarely will an individual take the responsibility for developing their skills and knowledge. The attitude is, well I’ve done that training course, tick the list and move on. Many sales mangers or VPs in businesses also tale the view that they employ senior people who don’t need training… crazy, just plain crazy! However, what would happen to business and the nation if sales professionals were to take the same pride in honing their skills just as the sports professionals and performing artists do? Would we see that percentage rise in results… yep, I’m sure we would. Therefore, I suppose the final word should go to Gary Player, the South African golfer who said “The more I practice the luckier I get.”

-Colin Wilson