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Change Is Inevitable, so Make Sure to Embrace It

Charles Darwin in Origin of the Species said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” So it is in sales and a sales career.As a young sales person I saw change as good and bad. When they lowered or changed my commission that was “bad”. When they changed my territory or raised the prices of my products that was also a “bad” change. When they made me a vice president that was a “good” change. When they gave me more products to sell, that was a “good” change.As a professional sales person, I’ve learned that most change is neither good nor bad. It’s exactly what we make of the change that determines whether it’s good or bad. Charles Swindoll says, “85% of the impact of change is determined by our attitude toward that change” so, today I want to challenge you to embrace every change as necessary and look for the opportunity presented by the change.Everyone I know that’s a salesperson has a hope for something better. The shocking thing I realized was that my hope for the future was based on one thing – change. Without change, we’d all just replay Ground Hog Day over and over again. No one would ever get more, be more or do more. Our hope and our lives revolve around change. So, we better embrace it and learn how to deal with it.Early in my career, my sales manager gave me a trick of thought to help me in the face of discouraging change. It’s been one of the greatest lessons of my life. He said, “Look for the opportunity in the change.” He said, “In every seeming adversity, there is a seed for greater growth.” This has been my most powerful mantra. You can use it too.I love classic rock, I grew up with it. There was a band called Genesis that was fantastic. The lead singer was Peter Gabriel. The band had sold over 2 million records with Peter Gabriel when he left the band. The change was demoralizing.The band interviewed over 400 candidates for a lead singer over the course of a year. That’s more than one a day, including weekends. . In desperation, they discussed breaking up the band. Then, the drummer stepped forward and said, “I can sing a little.” His name is Phil Collins. With Phil Collins as the lead singer, they have sold 120 million records. In every seeming adversity, there is a seed for greater growthIn 1977, Sting was a school teacher playing with his band The Police on the weekends. They didn’t have a recording contract. One weekend they went from London to Paris to play in a bar. When they got there, the bar owner told them they weren’t scheduled and needed to go home. The band was discouraged and returned to London. Sting stayed in Paris to look around.Late that night he ended up in the red light district of Paris and got a room in the district that night. When he went into the hotel, there was a huge poster of the heroine from Cyrano de Bergerac. Of course, her name was Roxanne and that night he wrote Roxane. “Roxane, you don’t need to leave on the red light.”It’s been estimated that the song Roxane has earned over $100 million. In every seeming adversity, there is a seed for greater growth.Life is full of people who use a change in their life as an excuse for failure. Make sure you’re not one of them.