NEVER postpone the opportunity to learn.

My associate and I had a particularly good week this week. We are already frequently #1 and #2, and always at least in the top 4 out of over 200 sales reps, but this week was one of our best ever. A struggling sales rep who has been with the company for quite some time but hasn't yet broken out of the middle of the pack--let's call him Ryan--walked over to our sales board today, and looked at how much business we were able to do this week. The amount of commissions we were going to earn this week was around 10 times what Ryan was going to receive.

"Man," Ryan started. "I gotta come pick your brains some time on how you are doing things over here."

My associate and I didn't know quite how to take it, so we just played it off in good humor. Ryan shook his head--either in discouragement, or admiration, and walked away.

I thought back to the most recent training I had given for the company. Ryan was there. He was sitting back in the back, leaning back on his chair. He hadn't brought his notebook, and seemed pre-occupied with his phone during much of the training. During the beginning of my training, I had asked what they all thought motivated the top 5 performers in the company, and he had responded with "Diapers and formula".

He got several laughs, including one from me, but he didn't take any notes. His sales haven't improved much since that training either.

My brother-in-law told me about a guy he knows that came from another company to start selling for us. I introduced myself to him when he first started, and he has since learned that I made a similar transition in the past, and yet climbed up the ladder relatively quickly. He keeps telling me that one day he wants to "do lunch", and "pick my brain". I keep waiting for that day to happen, I'd be happy to share whatever I've learned along the way, and hope that it can benefit him in some way. He continues to struggle with the transition.

It always boggles my mind, that the ones that need the training the most seem to not even know that it's there. There it is, right there in front of them, and they blow it off like it's a lecture from their parents. They say things like, "I'm going to have to pick your brain some day," instead of, "hey...you guys are having a phenomenal week over here. What can I do to perform at a higher level?" He could have learned something right there at that moment...but instead chose to tell us that "some day" he'd choose to learn from 2 of the top 5 performers in our 100 Million dollar company.

Never postpone an opportunity to learn from the best. If you are feeling down on your game, go to the guys at the top RIGHT NOW. Don't talk about "some day." Learn TODAY. And when your company holds a sales training, show up with a notebook in hand, and learn from it. Choose to learn something from the very best performers every day and every week. Learn to think like them, and you will earn like them.

CC