The JOY Club is actually one of the least “joyful” things I’ve seen in selling.
It seems to me that in this country, we have done a truly awful job of selling success and the sense of accomplishment. Need an example? Whenever you read about wealthy people in America, they’re always referred to as “The (evil) Rich,” instead of “The Successful, the Accomplished, the Productive.” We have a mentality that says, “I want it right now – and if you have it, you must have gotten it wrongly!” Sadly, that mentality is permeating the profession that I love, and it’s causing all too many salespeople to torpedo their careers by joining what I like to call, “The JOY Club.” And there’s no “Joy” in it.
You see, I’ve always believed that salespeople are the ultimate expression of the American Free Enterprise System. It’s the best system there is, and salespeople are – or should be – the tip of the spear for the system. It’s up to us to make business happen, to promote our products and services, and cause economic growth. Through that we become successful and accomplished ourselves. Salespeople know – or used to know – that selling and success are progressive efforts; over the course of time we build a territory or a business and reap the rewards. Now, however, too many salespeople don’t think they have time for that – and they join the JOY Club. What is that? I’ll tell you.
It’s the Job Of the Year Club. Salespeople who are members of this club dedicate themselves to changing jobs every year or so, and convince themselves that they are “advancing their career.” What they’re actually doing is treading water. Most salespeople join the Club for one of two reasons:
- They aren’t willing to put in the work to succeed, and get fired.
- They aren’t willing to put in the time to succeed, and so they start looking for another job within months after taking the current one.
For awhile, this doesn’t affect them; it seems that salespeople can easily transition annually for about 5-6 of these job changes. Sooner or later, it catches up with them….and they end up in someone’s office trying valiantly to explain the unexplainable. A good example was the guy I interviewed yesterday as part of a recruiting assignment. To be fair, he’d had some stints of 2-3 years, but the overall resume’ qualified him for the JOY club.
As I asked him about the transitions, he confidently said, “Well, each one of these was a promotion.”
I replied, “Nonsense.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, truly mystified.
“A promotion advances your career,” I said. “If you’d advanced your career through all of these changes, you wouldn’t be sitting in my office looking for a job that pays less than the last one you had, and having been unemployed for six months.”
He left.
Interviews – and candidates – like this are all too common these days. People no longer hang around jobs long enough to really succeed. Studies show that salespeople typically don’t become profitable for a company until month 12-18 on the job, and they don’t reach full productivity until year 3 or 4. Hence, if you’re changing more frequently than that, the only one who’s making money on you is you.
I see the desire for immediate gratification in multiple ways. Interviewing current sales staff for aconsulting client, I heard several salespeople say of the top guy, “Well, of course he’s the top guy. He’s been here 15 years.” That didn’t just happen. That required a dedication to a job and to success – and it produced better results for the salesperson (income, accomplishments, perks) than nearly all JOY clubbers.
If you want a successful sales career, it’s time to relinquish your membership (or don’t consider membership) in the JOY Club. How can you do that? It’s simple. When things get tough – stick it out. Determine to do what it takes to be successful, even if it won’t bear fruit next month. If you think you’re ‘building relationships’ when you’re changing jobs, you’re kidding yourself – fight through the tough spots.
And realize that success is neither instant nor easy. Successful salespeople are those who take a long term focus while recognizing the importance of the immediate moment; the most successful salespeople are those who maximize the value of their time, day in and day out.
And the next time you see a veteran who you think “has it made,” don’t be envious. Instead, find out how he “made” it.
