SALES PROJECTIONS $ The Crippling Disease of Moderate Success

BY DAVE KAHLE

e’re doing OK.” That’s a thought shared by thousands of executives I have encountered over the years. It also resides in the minds of the majority of B2B salespeople with whom I’ve worked.

“OK” for a business often means that the company grows slowly, at least in most years. It is marginally profitable, in most months. The workforce is relatively stable, and the customers somewhat loyal. No one challenges the status quo.

For a salesperson, it means that the boss isn’t hounding him, he/she is making a decent living, and the customers are relatively accessible. No interest in pursuing anything bigger.

For both groups, doing “OK” is a description of moderate success, and was never a description of the lofty goals and dreams that could motivate them. Instead, it is the default position of business professionals who have settled for the comfortable status quo. “OK” is where people and organizations often settle after they have been in the fray for a while.

While moderate success — doing OK — is a stage every business and every salesperson must pass through, the problem is that many — probably the majority — settle there and make it a permanent resting place. In a world where the pursuit of excellence requires proactive time and effort, the majority settle for the relative comfort of mediocrity.

Once “doing OK” settles into minds and hearts, it engenders a circular set of behaviors that support itself. It becomes the rationale to avoid any initiatives that might shake the status quo and lead to higher levels of success and influence:

“Open a new branch, or develop a new product or service?” Naw, it would stress the company too much. We’re doing OK the way we are.

“Invest in developing the sales force?” Nope, they will just leave and go to a competitor. We’re doing OK just the way we are.