How the “everyone gets a trophy” mentality is destroying sales

Over the past generation, there has been a general shift in the attitudes of our society as it relates to winning and losing and, as a result, the newest crop of salespeople and sales organizations, are suffering.

It appears that the days of the meat-eating, self-directed, self-starting salesperson are numbered not through a lack of potential talent, but rather the competitive spirit that is being systematically bred out of our gene pool. No longer is the valuable lesson of how to lose gracefully and use the experience to drive yourself to greater achievement being taught. Instead, it's all about "feeling good about yourself", no matter what the outcome.

Well, until the fundamental laws of economics and business change to compensate all vendors and salespeople equally, regardless of the outcome of their efforts, winning still does matter. It's not good enough to "just do your best" and be happy with whatever the outcome. In any new business transaction where multiple vendors are competing against one another, there will be only one winner. That is an undeniable and absolute truth. Until and unless we start undoing the damage that has been done by the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality, businesses can expect to continue to suffer with salespeople who participate in seemingly endless sell cycles only to lose with the attitude of "well, at least I did my best".

One of the things I have always loved about sales is that it is completely measurable. Meet or exceed your quota and you're a winner. Don't and you're a goat. True competitors love that. Are you one? Or did mommy just tell you that you are?