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What does it mean to excel? Here, it means reaching the top 1% level. In other words, out of 100 salespeople on average, you need to outperform 99 of them.

Your first reaction might be, “I don’t have that talent.” But this article is not written for geniuses; geniuses don’t need it. We’re discussing how ordinary people can become first-rate in sales, even if you’re introverted, even if you’re new to sales, even if you’ve failed repeatedly.

So why strive to excel? Is it just to earn more money? I think the most important reason is to enjoy the work itself.

Warren Buffett said: When you’re young, you must choose work you love; otherwise, it’s like saving up sex for your old age.

How do you judge your love for work? I have a simple standard: If this job paid no salary, or even cost you money, would you still be willing to do it? Don’t consider “Can I support myself?” Assume you’re financially free, and just ask your inner feeling.

What is the relationship between passion and work ability? Usually, you only have sustained motivation to invest if you’re good at it. When I was in school, I loved playing Age of Empires but wasn’t into StarCraft. In Age of Empires, I often chased opponents around the map, destroying bases and cutting down villagers, which gave me a sense of achievement. But in StarCraft, I was the one getting beaten to a pulp. Unless you see hope for change, it’s hard to keep investing.

Many salespeople don’t like their jobs; a key reason is “can’t close the deal.” Getting rejected on phone calls, customers saying “we’ll think about it” and dragging on, losing a long-pursued client to a competitor (very much like a failed romance), being haggled down until you’re bleeding and the customer still wants another cut.

Most people view work as drudgery, but top performers often turn work into a game, even becoming immersed in it. Doing the same tasks, you’re suffering, while they feel like they’re leveling up, fighting monsters, and looting gear, having a blast. There’s already a world of difference in mindset.

When people do what they love, their eyes shine, and their tone becomes infectious. This state is often felt in top performers.

So the main theme of this article is actually how to achieve “career happiness.”

Now, the problem is: you might be a rookie in sales, struggling even to kill small monsters, and low-level enemies can easily defeat you. Customers’ defense increases by 200 points daily, and they use skills like “need to think” and “price too high” with great proficiency. They even have a dueling skill like Diao Chan in the game Three Kingdoms Kill, making salespeople fight each other. Every round, you lose health, and your hand cards drop away. Moreover, they’ve now equipped powerful items like 360 Mobile Guard, which directly blocks sales calls.

As salespeople, for decades, we’ve only practiced two skills: product pitching and price discounting. But customers already know your moves, and their armor basically neutralizes your attacks.

Some people also have a dark skill: kickbacks. But even ignoring legal issues, this usually doesn’t give you much advantage because competitors do it too, turning it into another bloodbath.

Although there are countless sales game guides, they can’t keep up with the times. In this situation, you might even struggle to survive in sales, let alone have time to think about development.

Gamers have a term “war 5 scum,” meaning a weakling with only 5 combat power. Most new salespeople are at that level.

War gods often start as war 5 scum, but few war 5 scum become war gods.

So how should you start?

You need to grasp three key questions:

  • Career choice: What industry, company, and sales position should I choose?
  • Sales methods: How should I sell effectively?
  • Learning methods: How to learn and grow quickly?

Career choice determines your platform and environment. A child in the mountains is no less intelligent than a Shanghai kid, but Shanghai kids usually have sharper minds because they’ve seen more of the world. It’s like choosing a server in a game. On some servers, mines are rich, you can get equipment with +500 attack, and there are level-80 experts fighting alongside you. On other servers, you can run across the whole map and find few mines, the equipment is junk, and you find a bunch of pig-like teammates.

Choosing the wrong server determines your upgrade potential from a probability standpoint.

Sales methods are not worth discussing; with the product-pitch-plus-discount attack, customers don’t even need to dodge. You click thousands of times, your stamina and mood drop to rock bottom, but their stats might not even change by a decimal point.

Learning ability is your number one internal skill. As a newcomer, you don’t know this or that. How can you effectively improve your abilities and do sales well? What guides do you need to find? Who should teach you? What does your skill tree look like? How do you level up? What equipment can help you?

So, return and see the next article:

How to Do Sales Well: A Career Development Guide for New Salespeople

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