Today I am taking my fingers off the keyboard and re-posting an interesting article from The Sales Connection blog, written by Dr. Janet Spirer, co-founder of Sales Horizons in Scottsdale, AZ. Her firm designs customized sales training for Fortune 1000 clients nationwide. I hope you enjoy the post.

Sales success – just how important is grit?

One of the great studies of achievement was conducted way back when in 1926 by a researcher named Catherine Morris Cox. Cox was interested in identifying the factors that contributed to the accomplishments of true genius.  She studied the background and works of 300 recognized geniuses, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Mozart to Albert Einstein. One of Cox’s most interesting findings was identifying a number of qualities beyond raw intelligence and talent that predicted “greatness.”

Grit is important in salesBuilding on Cox’s data, University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Duckworth isolated two factors she thought were better predictors of outstanding achievement than talent or intelligence:

  1. The tendency to not abandon tasks only for the sake of change; not seeking novelty.
  2. The tendency not to abandon tasks in the face of obstacles; exhibiting perseverance & tenacity.

Combined, Duckworth called these two characteristics – GRIT: defined as the perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Here’s what the letters in the acronym represent:

Gut – referring to instinct for developing the courage to trust yourself to choose the right path

Resiliency – having the mental capacity that allows you to adapt with ease during adversity

Inventiveness – being able to continuously reinvent oneself as the marketplace changes

Tenacity – committing to your purpose

As it relates to the sales profession, although Cox did not include any superstar salespeople in her study, we think the concept behind GRIT holds some merit in sales.  Of course sales talent and sales skill matter, but we suspect a good case can be made for Duckworth’s formulation of the characteristic of GRIT.

Perseverance and Passion in SalesOne of the keys to sales success is working hard, crafting and modifying account strategies and rehearsing sales calls even after you have done it a hundred times.  Making that extra sales call on the internal champion who helped you during the last sales cycle, or insuring the data gets translated into the customer relationships management (CRM) system. And of course, putting in the time to complete that online course in order to update your selling skills.

Today, customer expectations are higher than ever; the competition is keen and the number of days in the week hasn’t changed, so this notion of GRIT may well be a piece of the puzzle for success.

End of Article

Hey it’s me, Doug, again. If you think the concept of GRIT has some merit and would like to measure how you stack up, try out the Duckworth Grit Scale Test.

Most managers would love to provide additional communication skills coaching to their salespeople, but think it is too expensive and time-consuming. If you see yourself in that picture you really need to check out the inexpensive video chat coaching Doug offers.

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