--- title: "7 \"What if's\" for me and 1 for you" description: What if you could change your life today? image: https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/hub/229131/file-497188597.jpg --- # [SELLING IN THE 21ST CENTURY](https://www.rickroberge.com/) [![header-sm-linkedin-blue](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/file-465400397-png/images/header-sm-linkedin-blue.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickroberge) [![header-sm-twitter-blue](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/file-465371692-png/images/header-sm-twitter-blue.png)](https://twitter.com/RainMakerMaker) [![header-sm-google-plus-red](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/file-462412948-png/images/header-sm-google-plus-red.png)](https://plus.google.com/+RickRoberge/posts) [![header-sm-rss](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/file-480298330-png/images/header-sm-rss.png)](https://www.rickroberge.com/rss.xml) # [Science for Sales Rock Stars](https://www.rickroberge.com/) ## [7 "What if's" for me and 1 for you](https://www.rickroberge.com/10-what-ifs-for-me-and-one-for-you) ![](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/hubfs/RR.jpg?width=35&height=35&name=RR.jpg) By [Rick Roberge](https://www.rickroberge.com/author/rick-roberge)   Jan 23, 2016 3:18:51 PM We sometimes worry about stuff that doesn't happen, but have you ever wondered what would be if what did happen, didn't? ***Updated for 2021!*** ![Lifes_Timeline.jpg](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/hub/229131/file-497188597.jpg "Lifes_Timeline.jpg") I met Elaine in October, 1969 as she was leaving my friend's fraternity party in search of people that were more fun. What if I hadn't gone over to check on my friend's party? Would we have met anyway? Would I have stayed in Worcester? Would Mark and Matt have been born? Would I have met Pete Caputa? Without Mark and Pete, would there be a Hubspot? --- Dave Kurlan and I both sold Cutco Cutlery in the 70's. If we hadn't, would we have met anyway? Would I have met Bob Jiguere, who turned out to be my sales mentor? Would I have learned how to knock on doors, handle rejection, and develop rapport quickly without Bob's guidance? Would I have adopted the **[mindset that changed my life](http://therainmakermaker.com/2006/05/29/success-secret-3/)**? Would I have joined Dave's firm 30 years later anyway? --- If I hadn't sold furniture in a retail furniture store in the early 80's, would I have learned how salespeople could be petty thieves and how disloyal customers that 'went home to think about it' could be? Would I have learned how salespeople's managers would authorize 'special discounts' rather than teach their salespeople how to build value and hold pricing and margins? Would I have thought, "I don't want to be one of them." and bought and paid for my own sales training anyway? --- If I hadn't started my collection agency in 1986, would I have heard 20 years of excuses and lies that debtors had for not paying what they agreed to pay? Would I have learned to discern who was lying and who was telling the truth anyway? Would I have learned that some people could not pay and some people wouldn't pay even though they had the cash in their pocket? Would I have been forced to learn **[how to maximize client retention, evangelism and sales](https://www.rickroberge.com/Blog/bid/238328/How-to-Maximize-Client-Retention-Evangelism-and-Sales)** anyway? Would I still have figured out that the reason that people stopped paying was because they became 'un-sold' and that ALL collection problems are sales problems in disguise? --- If I hadn't taken a detour with Noresco in the early 90's, would I have learned how to think in millions rather than thousands? Would I have developed the 'startup' mentality and understood what it was like to need to make payroll every week? Would I have learned how to work with my engineers and use their knowledge to identify and align the needs of our clients, their utilities and our sub-contractors and suppliers as well as the executives of our clients and our employer? Would I have learned that the process that I used to sell a $2,500 study was the same process that I used to sell a $4 million comprehensive energy conservation project? --- That's four. 5. If I hadn't attended BNI ten years ago, would I have met Pete Caputa? 6. Would he have introduced me to hundreds of Hubspotters and Partners? 7. Would Hubspotters have written **[this](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-lyons/sales-coach_b_4979638.html)**, or **[this](http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/3-stories-that-formed-a-master-salespersons-philosophies)**, or **[this ](http://www.curiousjuice.com/blog-0/bid/134157/Sales-training-for-an-engineer-lessons-from-a-master)**and brought new prospects to my inbox last year? Notice that my "What ifs" started before I was 20 and you'll find a significant "What if" in every decade of my life. All I had to do is follow Yogi Berra's advice. [**When you come to a fork in the road, Take it!**](http://amzn.to/1nrOCNN) ***Updated for 2021!*** 2020 was a year like no other! What if you are at a fork in the road? **[Will you take it](https://www.rickroberge.com/salesstimuluscoaching)**? Is it your decade? - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### Want updates as they're published? #### Enter your email: BTW, do you have an idea or question that would make a good article? Would you like to write or co-author it? Either way, **[ send me an email](mailto:therainmakermaker@gmail.com?Subject=Blog%20article/author%20idea)**. **[Rick Roberge](https://plus.google.com/116082120720832878924/posts?rel=author)** ## About this blog *This blog is for, by and about Sales Rock Stars, RainMakers, Entrepreneurs (and/or those that strive to be)* ## [Read My Articles on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/rickroberge) ## [About Rick](https://www.rickroberge.com/contact-me) **[The Original ](http://therainmakermaker.com/)****[RainMaker Maker Blog (pre-2012)](http://therainmakermaker.com/)** [**Remote Bookkeeping**](http://www.slcbookkeeping.com/blog/bid/116710/remote-bookkeeping-made-easy)[** Made Easy**](http://www.slcbookkeeping.com/blog/bid/116710/remote-bookkeeping-made-easy) [**Awesome Website Design**](https://www.inbounddesignstudio.com/contact/) Search RainMakers & Sales Rock Stars Search ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Posts by Month - [November 2025 (19)](https://www.rickroberge.com/archive/2025/11) - 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