I never wanted to be in sales. I only went into this field because I had an idea to start a company. The SCORE consultant I met with told me my plan wouldn't succeed unless I learned how to sell.

Ugh! It was the last thing I wanted to hear. But I listened ... and got myself a sales job at Xerox. It was brutal, hard work. Turnover was high. Lots of reps left, feeling like total losers.

Here's why I survived -- and even thrived -- in this challenging profession.

I was terrified of failing. Fear is a powerful motivator.

I had no backup plan. If I failed, I refused to return to teaching (my previous career). If I failed, I couldn't start my company. I couldn't fail.

I gave myself one year to figure it out. Just. One. Year.

Twelve Months to Sales Success

I threw myself into learning sales. With a deadline, you do that.I took advantage of all possible learning opportunities.

I read every book on sales I could get my hands on. I even convinced my boss to start a library so I wouldn't have to fund it myself.

(Note: Agile Selling, my newest book, goes into great detail on all these strategies. Check it out.)

I took a serious look at my colleagues and realized they weren't geniuses. If they could do it, I certainly could.

When I was struggling, I kept reminding myself that I just hadn't figured it out yet. YET. YET. YET. That's an important word.

Whatever it took to succeed.

I threw my pride out the door. Rather than trying to impress my boss with my smarts, I embraced my ignorance. I proactively asked for help. I wanted to know what how to eliminate problems before they occurred.

I sought feedback on my selling skills. I hated it. But I did it anyway. I listened, made changes and got better.

I listened to my colleagues'phone conversations and made joint sales calls with them. I noted where they ran into trouble. I paid attention to what worked well. I asked tons of questions.

I borrowed other people's brains when my own was insufficient. When stuck, I'd ask myself, "How would Jim do it?" or "What would Diane suggest?" I got smarter.

I kept going when other people quit. I learned from my successes and more importantly, when things didn't go well.

I redefined all failures as valuable learning experiences. I had to; it was too just too painful fail so often.

When I got good at one thing, I moved to the next area of mastery. Prospecting. Demoing. Writing proposals. Slowly but surely, I figured most of it out.

Committing was the key to my sales success.

At the end of year one, I was 165% of quota. By that time, I decided I really liked sales—more than my original entreprenuerial dream.

It was challenging. Ever-changing. It stretched me beyond what I thought was possible and kept me on my toes.

Over the years, I've used this same process a gazillion times. It works when you're selling new products or selling to new market segments. It works when you take a new sales position. It works when you start your own company.

It just plain works. Best of all, it's 100% replicable.

For more insights into these strategies, check out Agile Selling. It just came out in paperback.