When You Want Something, You Must Be Willing Not To Have It

When you want something, you must be willing not to have it! What a weird thing to say? When you want something, you want it. Then why talk about being willing not to have it. As strange as it may seem, that seems to be the natural way to get what you want.

Reminds me of an experience that I had years ago. I was in the sales line selling computer systems. One of the organizations I covered had a sister company that also sold computer systems.

The customer definitely had a requirement that we could meet, but there was this possibility that they might prefer to buy from within their own group of companies.

There was a choice to be made. To walk away from the opportunity or continue on knowing that I may not make the sale. As long as this nagging objection kept appearing within me, it was tough going and depressing.

Then it occurred to me that sales is not about winning all deals that we chase. It is about giving it the best effort and fulfilling customer needs. I could lose for sure but I could also win.

Told myself “When you want something, you must be willing not to have it!”. Once I accepted this, the unnecessary stress and fear that I might not close the deal disappeared. My full focus and concentration was on understanding and meeting customer needs. It so happened that it was through the computer system.

The computer system was not the solution they were buying, but a solution to their business needs.

I won that deal. That was considered a competitive winback. That year I closed two other deals from customers who previously purchased computer systems from competitors.

Doing all this became a lot easier, when I told myself “When you want something, you must be willing not to have it!”