“Well the buyers, were just liars”

Good morning!“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”This Henry Ford quote came to mind when I overheard the following on a train...“Well the buyers, were just liars.”The sales person sitting in the row of seats behind me uttered this.It was the last day of the sales month and my fellow Amtrak passenger, who I will call Jon, clearly was attempting to rationalize his failure to close a much-needed piece of business to one of his bosses.In just six short words, Jon’s tale was almost Shakespearean in the scope of its drama, treachery and tragedy.It combined a scathing indictment of the apparent fecklessness of the buyer with a transparently bold attempt by Jon to shed any responsibility for his obvious failure to win the order.Jon, Jon, Jon. It’s not them. It’s you.The fact that you didn't understand what your buyer was going to do, and when they were going to do it, is a problem that you created.Look, if you find yourself stuck in an uncomfortable position like this, stop making excuses.Don’t deny your mistakes. Own them.If this happens to you more often than you’d like, then what are you going to change?Get some coaching. Talk to a mentor. Take a course to work on your core selling skills (discovery & qualification). Read a sales book.Get some help. There’s a time when we all need it.Don’t let your pride stand in the way of your success.J.M. Barrie (the author of Peter Pan) said it best:“We are all failures - at least the best of us are.”- Andy