Complaining & Making Excuses
Some of the roofing salespeople I’ve known through the years (nobody that reads this website) have been exceptionally good at 2 things… and little else. They may not even have a G.E.D., but they’ve got a Master’s Degree in both. What are they?
#1 Complaining
#2 Making Excuses
Truth is, Complaining & Making Excuses go hand-in-hand. If you’re good at one, you’re good at the other. They may as well be twins.
What’s Your Language?
Some people speak English, others speak Spanish, and then there’s a few who are fluent in the language of Complaining & Making Excuses.
It may sound like English, but it really is a rushing stream of doom, death, and destruction… wiping out anything and anybody in it’s path. Their life is hell. Why should your life be any better? So, they’re going to try and take you out with a barrage of negativity until you finally give up and agree with them. Yeah, life sucks!
Tell me if you’ve ever heard these phrases around your office…
“If the company didn’t take so much dang overhead, I could make a little money too.”
“I don’t know why we keep using that crew, they’re costing me referrals.”
“It is too hot.” or “Too cold!”
“I couldn’t knock doors on Saturday morning because the weather was too nice.”
“They never give me any leads.”
“They give all my referrals away.”
“Hey! That’s my neighborhood.”
I could go on and on and on some more, but you get the general idea.
Are any of them legitimate concerns? Absolutely!
If the roofing company you’re working for is giving away all of your referrals, they are costing you money. Same thing if you’ve been developing a neighborhood and all of the sudden 2-3 other sales people are working your turf. That’s a problem too.
For people who know me, really know me, I haven’t always been a sunshine and roses kind of guy… there’s days when I really struggle with my frame of mind. I’ve had to train my thinking over the years to meditate on things from a positive mindset rather than to constantly run to the dark side every time something doesn’t go exactly the way I think it should. Anybody else know what I mean?
Here’s the problem with that kind of thinking… YOU become your own worst enemy.
Who knows your weaknesses better than you? Nobody! Why spend your entire life talking trash to yourself… exposing your own weaknesses. Basically, you’re telling yourself how to defeat yourself all day long. Guess what? It’s working!
When you constantly dwell on what is NOT going right in your life, you suck every single ounce of energy out of your life. You take away your own power to become successful. You end up stealing your own paycheck… like working a full-time job and getting paid part-time instead.
The Blame Game
How do you know if you’re stuck in the Blame Game?
There’s one sure way to tell… do you speak the language of Complaining & Making Excuses? Ask your spouse, best friend or boyfriend/girlfriend. They’ll tell you what language you speak.
Blaming other people is safe because it relieves us from the responsibility of failure.
Blaming God for the bad weather is safe because we can just say, “It wasn’t meant to be.” Blaming the roofing company is safe because there’s only a handful of people who wouldn’t believe another “I GOT SCREWED!” story about a no-good, dirty, cheating roofing company. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, I’m just saying you’ve got to change your thinking.
Starting right now take responsibility for your own success. Refuse to let anybody else take the fall for your lack of productivity. Don’t allow the crew, the company, another sales person take the fall for another bad paycheck.
You are going to “own it” from this day forward. If you don’t like your company, switch companies, but don’t sit around complaining. If you don’t like your crew, go to the boss and tell him. If he won’t do anything about it, move on.
Whatever you do, refuse to let another minute pass without taking responsibility for your own life. Wake up!
Nobody else is going to do it for you. There’s nobody out there who is going to care whether or not you make your rent, car payment or ever take another vacation. Nobody is going to care for you like you will. So, why would you let anybody else take responsibility for your life’s goals except for you.
C’mon now! I’m talking to somebody… nobody that reads this website though. 🙂
Peace,
Mike
Mike Coday
Mike started selling roofs in '95 while working as a youth pastor at a small church in North Texas. A decade later he transitioned to speaking at industry conferences and training outside sales teams. Today, he works exclusively as the premier consultant to roofing company owners who are driven for growth.
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