I had a conversation on LinkedIn with a sales rep at a startup. I asked him, “Are you carrying the company on your back?” He said, “Trying.” His team has six reps. Three are trying but useless. One is untouchable, has been there the longest, and sells 60 percent of the revenue.

The sales leader is not unhappy. The board roll-up looks fine, so he has 90 more days to keep the equity dream alive. But the truth is that most reps missing quota has become the new normal. It smells bad.

The number one rep is sorted. The three hopeless reps are not it. Which leaves the two sitting second and third. They have potential and the will. Deep down they know they could be doing more. Maybe they want to be a better person for their spouse. Maybe they imagine what an extra $100k in commission would do; enough to get the CEO’s attention, enough to change their family’s life. One breakthrough year could be the foundation have for decades, if only they took the first step.

So if you are them, how do you take the first step? What questions do you need to answer? What truth do you need to dig toward? Why act? Why change? If you stay as rep two or rep three, hoping for different results, you already know where you're going but have you faced the fact you're headed there?

Which brings me back to. The rep who said he was “trying”. Do you think he was rep 2 or rep 3? Do you think it matters which one he was? What do you think he means by trying? Do you think he knows why he’s trying? Is there a way that he could try harder? Or try differently?

Every rep must decide whether to stay stuck or change. A friend just climbed Kilimanjaro. She could have gone alone, but with a guide she reached the summit. But, before she had the guide, she had to decide why.

Rick mentioned that he'd be collecting the questions that reps should ask themselves, so if you want to take a look at it then you'll find a way to reach us. Only for the courageous.