This post is dedicated to the AMAZING “5VV”

A good friend of mine is a very talented sales manager in the technology space here in NYC.  He shared a story with me that I know will impact you as it did me.

My friend hired and trained a kid who had recently arrived in New York from overseas. He came here to escape deplorable conditions in his home country. He struggled with communication.  He worked to learn the customs and colloquialisms in our country.  He did not arrive here with much but he persevered because he thought of America as the land of opportunity.

Imagine navigating Kennedy airport, the DMV, or COSTCO for that matter as a new immigrant with limited language skills and only a few friends.  I’ve been here my entire life and shutter at the mention of a trip to any of those three!

My friend saw the magic ingredient in this kid.

He saw DESIRE and, no matter what, DESIRE WINS. So, my friend invested his time with the kid.

This kid out-worked and out-hustled everyone on the team EVERY DAY. He invested in himself to improve.

Little by little, the sheer volume of cold calls he made began to pan out.  As my good friend Barry Farber always says, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

The kid just closed a big technology deal in the millions of dollars.  His commission is a nice six figure number.  When my friend told me the story, he said to me that when the kid closed the deal and thought about the big commission he would make, he shook his head in amazement and said, “When I came to this country, I was humbled just to have running water.”

Stay hungry, stay humble, and remember that desire always wins.

Own Your Sales Gene…