Issue#2438 The Bitter Taste of Failure… or the Sweet Smell of Success?
I have spent a lot of time and money on deals that I didn’t get. So what? I always gave every deal my best shot - and, knowing that I had done all I could, I believed that, over time, the numbers would come back my way. My efforts would pay off.
Let’s say you know the sales closing rate is one out of three and you make $100,000 per deal. If your goal is to make $1 million, then you’d better go see more than 30 prospects. Visit 22 instead of 30 and a funny thing may happen. You may go six for 22. And you may go four for eight on your next eight calls.
Businesses fail for all sorts of reasons, many beyond our control. But if you don’t put forth the effort and do everything you can to make yours a success, the only person you can blame is yourself. And the bitter taste of “If only I had…” will last a long, long time.
[Ed. Note: Your best chance of making a business succeed? Getting "insider secrets" from experienced business-builders.
Author and businessman John L. Herman Jr. ("Herman"), who has owned more than 20 companies, has become an expert on why businesses fail. The above article was adapted with permission from Hermanisms: Axioms for Business and Life.
For more information about Herman and his business writing, please visit Hermanisms.com.]
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