Does Luck Play a Role in Sales?

Belief in luck is common in business, and probably more common in sales than any other profession. For example, here's a video of a CEO who uses "omens" for lead generation in the clear belief that they're a sign of good luck. Watch the video (it's really short), and then vote in the poll below:

CLICK for my view on this »

I'm sure that not everyone will agree, but I think that believing in luck can be a recipe for failure. If you believe that a supernatural force is actively determining what happens in your life, you're providing yourself with the perfect excuse when you fail. It's not you that failed, it was "bad luck."

And if you do succeed, believing it was "good luck" strips keeps you from looking carefully at what you did right (thereby achieving the success) and reproducing those results in the future. Rather than analyzing your performance, you look for what made you "lucky" that day.

Success, in sales and in every other part of life, is the result of discipline, dedication and sacrifice -- and the decisions that you make, based on current circumstances. So if you're serious about success, you'll stop believing in luck.

As for the CEO in the video... Uh, whatever.