Commitment, Determination and Persistence
9 Dec 2007
Commitment, determination and persistence are the attributes that every great achiever has to have in order to be successful and it’s so easy to illustrate the point by writing about a famous and hugely successful person. But the following is a true story about someone who, even if I gave you his full name, you would not have heard of. I shall call him by his first name which is Albert.
I was first introduced to Albert when I was asked to coach twenty-five of the top salespeople working with a large Financial Services organisation. This was the top twenty-five of two thousand salespeople, so you can imagine they were very successful people already. Albert, however, stood out like a sore thumb. Whilst the other twenty-four salespeople were extremely well dressed, looked fit and were very articulate, the politest thing I can say about Albert was that he was the complete opposite of that. Never the less, based on his sales production, Albert had certainly earned his place in the top twenty-five.
When I asked the twenty-four how they described in fifteen seconds what they did for their clients, they had some very interesting and sophisticated ways of describing themselves. One example was: “I help people minimise the effects of taxation during their lifetimes and ensure that as much of their estate as possible is passed on to their families on their death rather than into the government coffers.” Another was “I help people to plan their financial affairs so that they are able to retire ten years earlier than they would otherwise be able to do so.” Albert’s was “I sell life insurance, pensions and savings plans”.
I was fascinated by Albert and in one of the coffee breaks, I sat down with him to find out more. It transpired that Albert had worked in the postal services for many years. Then his mother became widowed and quite ill and he was unable to care for her properly on his postman’s salary. He had applied for several other jobs without success and then he heard that very good incomes could be made in financial services and that, because it was commission only based, they were not too fussy who they took on. He told me that after the interview when he was offered a position, and found out what he could earn if he was successful, that he became absolutely committed and determined to succeed in his new career. So he sold his car and everything else he thought could do without, and raised enough money to be able to keep himself and his mother for three months whilst he was learning his new trade.
Albert tried many of the sophisticated approaches used by the top sellers in his company, but was not comfortable with them and failed dismally. Then he decided to try a totally different approach, and one that he invented completely by himself. This approach quickly earned him the nickname ‘Tower Block Albert’. This is what he did.
Albert took a bus or train to the nearest Tower Block of apartments. He would take the lift to the top floor and then walk down and ring the bell on every front door. If it was answered he would say “Good afternoon Sir (or Madam). My name is Albert representing the (XYZ) Company. I sell life insurance, pensions and investment plans. I am here today introducing myself and making appointments for next Wednesday with people who would like to buy one or other of those. Would you like to make an appointment with me too.”
I have to say that I cringed at this approach, but the fact is that by the time Albert had reached the ground floor, he had always made at least four appointments, and when he went back, he sold to every single one of them. That was Albert’s sole method of prospecting for new customers. He never even asked for referrals and Albert had been doing that for seven years. That is what I consider one of the most extraordinary examples of commitment, determination and persistence, and a lesson for us all. Albert is a world-class achiever.