Over the weekend, my husband and I had a friend in and were playing Scrabble. Mid-game the two of us played unbelievable turns in a row, leaving our friend, Dan, lagging in points. Suddenly Dan’s attitude changed – his face became stoic and he could hardly speak. His frustration level was excessive. He had assumed defeat. He finished out the game by taking huge risks – so huge they were actually stupid – like trying to pass ‘Zxcluy’ as a word. He ended up missing several turns and a ton of point due to his defeatist behavior. Of course he lost, but he held some of the highest points tiles and certainly had a chance to come back and win.

Firms all over the country spend thousands of dollars to put sales reps through extensive sales training. The reps return to their office eager to sell but many are left to succeed on their own.