Antarctica is the most remote, uninhabited and inhospitable places on the planet.  It is covered in ice all year round, always below freezing and there are no permanent residents.  So what in the world can a sales person learn about selling from such a distant and remote place?  The answers may surprise you.

As a kid, I have always wanted to go to Antarctica.  The mystique and challenge of such a remote and rugged place has always fascinated me.  What would this place look like?  What would it sound like?  Why would anyone want to go into the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason?  Then I began reading about the early pioneers of this place and their stories of exploration.  In 2006, I traveled to Antarctica twice running in both the Antarctic Ice Marathon and the Antarctic 100k ultra marathon.  I trained for these events for nearly 2 years by working out in a commercial freezer in San Diego, CA.  What I learned from this had changed my life forever as a person and as a sales person.

I will never forget the day I picked up my first book about the story of Ernest Shackleton.  In the early 1900’s this man and his team traveled to Antarctica several times in hopes of being the first to reach the South Pole and cross the continent.  He never reached any of his ambitious goals, as was the case with many of the early explorers.  Many of them were marooned, in constant danger of never returning and many never did. However, what stood out and really made these stories so compelling was the character that Shackleton and others like him displayed.  These men and their teams taught me so much about courage, strength of character, leadership, working together as a team, having a vision, discovering their mission and other related qualities.  The reason I was so passionate about going to Antarctica and running marathons there was so that I could share in the same struggles physically, emotionally and mentally against the world’s worst elements like my Antarctic heroes.  I was determined to train for this and conquer my own Antarctica literally and figuratively. 

The first time I read the story of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, I saw this immediately and saw great lessons for sales people and sales leaders.  These were reinforced when I journeyed twice to Antarctica and battled the elements myself.  There are many lessons that sales people and those leading sales organizations can learn from stories about Antarctica.  Here are three that stand out:

1.    THE POWER OF PASSION:  One thing that is very obvious is that the early pioneers to Antarctica were very passionate about journeying there.  They were bent on going no matter what and willing to risk everything including their lives to do so.  Nothing could stop them.  As a fan of Antarctica and its history, I felt the same way.  Even though I had not run a full distance marathon (26.2 miles) in nearly 20 years, I was determined that I was going to start and finish, no matter what.  When I ran the 100k (62.1 miles) eleven months after the marathon, I too was confident that I could make it even though I had never run half this distance in my life ever! 

How could I be so confident in reaching my goals?  On paper, I never should have made it.  How could the early explorers be so determined to conquer a place where no human being had ever been?  There were no maps, no GPS’s and nobody to consult for advice.  I believe the gaps were bridged by the power of passion. 

As a sales person, how much real passion do you have for your profession, your company and what you sell?  Can people sense this in you every time you speak?  Lets face it.  There is a much higher degree of self-confidence that one exudes when they really believe in something deeply.  Customers are attracted to this and they buy from those that they like, trust and those that really are passionate about what they do and what they represent.

2.    RADICAL GOALS REQUIRE RADICAL MEASURES OF DISCIPLINE:  When people heard that I was planning on running a marathon in Antarctica, they thought I was crazy.  It was even worse when I planned a return trip eleven months later to run 62 miles in one day.  The same was true for the early Antarctic pioneers.  The goals and ambition of these men were off the charts; most people could not even think of such a task.  I believe that this kind of radical thinking is what brings great success.

The same is true for sales people.  It is imperative to be laser focused on exactly where you are and where you are going.  More important, aim high; really high.  One of my favorite quotes about goal setting is this:  Better to aim high and miss the target rather than aim low and hit it. 

In your sales efforts, what are some things that have never been accomplished or even attempted by anyone?  In your particular industry, what would be a specific goal that would make people’s hair stand on end?  Why not aim for that?  Why not be radical?  Worst case is that it would really motivate you and force you to change your habits and discipline in order to get close to your goal.

That is exactly what happened when I made the decision that I was going to run in Antarctica.  The severity of the situation forced me to take drastic action in terms of how I would plan and prepare myself for such a task.  Therefore, I got out the yellow pages and started calling freezer companies all over San Diego.  Can you imagine the look on their face when I called and said, “hi, this is Antarctic Mike.  I am a local San Diego resident and I want to speak with the person in charge at your freezer about training here in preparation for a marathon that I am running in Antarctica.”  Most people thought it was a joke.  When they realized that I was serious, then they thought I was nuts.  After they realized this was all by design and that I was really focused on a challenging goal that I was passionate about, they were very inspired by my ambition.  After about 30 cold calls (no pun intended), I actually found someone who took me seriously and allowed me to workout in his freezer by running laps in circles around pallets of frozen chickens, pizzas and French fries.

It is amazing how much self-generated momentum you can build when you are really passionate about achieving a goal that is radical.  When you set for yourself daily disciplines that are steps toward achieving your goal, you also build incredible momentum which you will need in order to see your goal through.

3.    ITS ABOUT FINISHING, NOT WINNING:  There were 9 runners in the first ever Antarctic Ice Marathon.  Even though I finished last, I felt like a gold medal winner.  My goal was to finish, not to beat a competitor or run in a certain time.  I am not saying that being competitive is a bad thing;  what I am saying is that when you have a goal to achieve something incredibly difficult, it is important to focus only on things that will insure that you are able to follow through and reach your goal.  Nothing else.

It is too easy in sales to get sidetracked and distracted by other people and circumstances that take your eye off of finishing what you have started.  Here is a good example.  Many years ago, the company I worked for decided to have a monthly sales contest.  The person who sold the most would win a trip for 2 to Cancun, Mexico.  It was a nice prize worth over $1,000.  I was one of 15 sales people in the competition.  I was consistently one of the better producers, so I knew I had a good chance of winning.  Instead of spending time counting points, sales and constantly measuring myself to all the others in the contest, I just spent my time getting in front of customers and doing what I do best, selling.  One of my counterparts, another very good sales person, would ask me several times a day, “how many points do you have?”  I don’t know how much time he was spending counting points and assessing himself against the others, but her certainly was spending much of his energy focused on winning the contest.  When the end of the month came and the results totaled, I won the contest by a slim margin.  The person who I barely beat was my counterpart who spent a lot of his time and energy measuring and counting instead of selling.  I said to him, “if you had spent all that time counting, measuring and asking me about where I was in the contest selling more customers, you probably would have beat me by a sale or two.”  Following up and following through no matter what the circumstances are critical for sales success.

The same was true for my runs in Antarctica.  The marathon took me over 7 hours and the 100k over 17 hours.  In the end of each of these, I was tired, sore and just about out of gas mentally and physically, but I finished.  It was not pretty and I did not win, but I finished.  I accomplished what I set out to do years earlier.  It was one of the most difficult and rewarding achievements of my life.  The amount of self-confidence I was able to build was incredible and it carried over to every single area of my life, including my ability to be a great sales person.