A Wise Man Shares His Key To Success

He said, "If you tell your story sincerely and with passion, and if you tell it often enough, people will respond."

Explaining, he said that first and foremost there is absolutely no substitute for sincerity and passion. If you do not live and breathe your mission, your vocation, if you do not completely believe in what you are doing, success will be elusive and short-lived at best.

Second, you have to talk to lots of people every day. Numbers make up for what might be lacking in polish of presentation and if you have sincerity and passion for what you are doing, people will be drawn to you and believe in you.

He told a story about a sales manager who was sending his sales force out into the field to sell "the story." He said, "Go out into your territories, to all the cities and towns, and lay the story on them. Meet them where they are, understand who they are and tell the story accordingly to them. Tell them what we are about and what we are trying to accomplish. Tell them how we are trying to help them. And tell them sincerely and with passion. Tell the story as often as you can."

The sales manager continued, "Some people will hear the story and they will get it. They will understand and they will buy. Others will turn away. That’s OK. You just have to know that some won’t buy. There will be others who look dazed and confused. For those you might have to spend a little more time and lay it on them again. They may buy, but then again, they may not. You just have to know that and not be discouraged."

"Trust me when I tell you, that if you tell the story often enough, and you really know it and believe it yourself, your passion will come through and people will buy. But if you come to a group—or even an entire city—and no one buys and you feel like they want to throw you out, head toward the door and get on the road out of town. And as you leave, brush your shoulders to shake off the city’s dust and move on.

"You just have to know this: some are meant to get it and some are not. Don’t worry about the ones who don’t or won’t. Your job is to keep working to find the ones who do and will."

I have kept that man’s advice and his story in my mind since the first time I heard it many years ago as a young salesman just starting out. It’s not always easy to rally yourself every day to get up and do what you do with passion and sincerity. Sometimes it feels like drudgery and it is difficult to pick yourself up to do it again when things are relentlessly challenging.

But, again, you never know who is going to ‘get it.’ You never know which conversation or presentation, or email or letter, is going to land right where it is supposed to at exactly the right moment. And since you don’t know that, you have to keep telling your story as often as you can, sincerely and passionately, to as many people as you can—every day.

Don’t give up.