Vanquish Effect: What Iron Mike taught us about sales

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”, Mike Tyson.

Nobody has ever said it better, and it applies to sales as easily as it does to boxing. Most sales people show up to be inoffensive, non-contrarian, people pleasing. Why? Partly because they think that winning new customers is about pleasing everybody and being amenable, your friendly neighbourhood Ned Flanders…happy to help! But its mainly because they’re they’re terrified of rejection, criticism, or, heaven forbid, a mean comment.

So, we water down our content until it’s vanilla, sweet, and 100% safe. We tone down our outreach, opting for “friendly” and “subservient” – all to avoid the horror of someone disliking us. After all, if nobody’s offended, we must be winning, right? Wrong.

Guess what, buttercup: sales isn’t a popularity contest. It’s about standing out in a sea of vanilla, and to do that, you’re gonna have to polarize. Some people will love you, and others…will make you want to write a scathing reply just to take them back to school. Don’t bother. If you're getting abuse and ego-flexing in your comments, you’re likely doing something right.

I’m in the top 5% of executive coaches worldwide (yes, really), and if I wanted to, I could wallpaper a room with the hate I get daily. But I couldn’t care less, because here’s the reality – my practice keeps growing. I just show up expecting a punch in the mouth, and it’s made me immune because I know for every five punches, I’m taking a win.

The #1 mistake? Trying to please everyone. (Oh, and by the way, if you’re in business – you’re in sales, so don’t tell me this isn’t for you.)

As promised, Vanquish in under 1 minute.