Last week I wrote about courage, a story about a VP of Growth telling his team that what was missing wasn’t effort or offering. It was nerve.
Courage is indeed key in the sales process. But the question is – What builds it?
I’ve seen it often being treated as a people problem. So the focus moves to more training. Role-playing objection handling, workshops on “challenger conversations.” And when that doesn’t stick, we start looking at the team composition itself — maybe we need hunters, not farmers.
I’ve watched a lot of software companies try this, and never seen it solve the challenge.
Here’s the thing: courage isn’t a trait you can coach into someone. It’s a byproduct of something else: Conviction.
The definition: A firmly held belief.
You can’t see it. You only see what it lets people do:
- They tell the buyer something he didn’t know about his own business.
- They ask the question that could end the deal.
- They say it when the fit is not perfect — and walk.
So now the big question is: Where does conviction come from?
Not from your people. They can only hold a firm belief if you’ve handed them something firm to hold.
- What genuinely makes you different.
- Why you built it that way.
- And when that difference matters most.
That’s groundwork. And groundwork is your job, not theirs.
And then they need to see it work. Once. With one customer you were built for. One who took things to the next level because of you — the customer for whom you’re the only logical option.
After that, nobody is hoping anymore. They’ve felt it.
From there, every call gets simple: Is this that customer again? If yes, go all in. If not, say so, and move on.
Question for you to reflect upon:
On a scale of 1 to 10, what’s the conviction level of your sales team — and what would it be worth to close the gap?
The Remarkable Effect is when your team breathes conviction.
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