The Sales Boss

CHAPTER 2 The Importance of Sacred Rhythms

I love jazz and think the jazz club is a perfect metaphor for a top-performing sales culture. Think about what happens when you enter a great jazz club. In fact, imagine going to the club after a hard day’s work when you aren’t in the mood to have a good time. What happens? Isn’t it true that before long you are tapping your foot to the rhythm? Pretty soon your body starts to sway, a smile lights up your face, and as you look around the room, everyone is moving in time to the music. Usually you end up staying longer than you intended!

What’s happened? The rhythm has infected you and you can’t resist. The beat tells you what’s happening and pulls you along for the ride. The beat also informed the members of the band of the structure, and so a great jazz ensemble can allow an individual musician to riff over the top of the beat, adding his individual gift of expression, and then land back with the rest of the musicians right on the beat. As the musician takes off on his journey of notes, you can feel the rest of the musicians falling in line behind to support the beauty, and the audience relishes each surprising note. A great performance always takes you on a journey, even when you enter the club “not in the mood.”

This is what you are striving for when you build a great sales culture. You create an environment with enough motivational power that when a new member joins the team he or she is infected with the rhythm of your team and ...