by Tom Reilly, author of Value Added Selling

Remember when you were a sales rookie, full of anticipation and anxiety? Closing a sale was the equivalent of winning a high school football game. You couldn't wait to tell someone of your success. You found yourself thinking of sales at night, sitting around at happy hour scribbling notes on a cocktail napkin. You would get up in the morning without an alarm clock. It was one part excitement and one part fear.

Whenever I encounter these pups in sales training, I enjoy watching them share their enthusiasm with the old dogs that have been doing this for a while. The veterans share their knowledge and experiences, and the rookies share their unbridled excitement for a profession that opens the doors to many career tracks.

These neophytes remind everyone what it's like to be in love with one's job. They work for the enjoyment, the challenge, and of course, the money. Their unspoiled view of business is thrilling and contagious.  Their optimism is inspiring. Bottom line, they are fun to be with. I, too, feed off their curiosity about sales.

Rookie salespeople ask questions the veterans are afraid to ask. In their eager quest for knowledge, these new salespeople come to seminars like dry sponges wanting to absorb the most from their training. It is precisely because they don't believe they know it all that they are able to take away so much. And it is because they have little sales success to rely on that they work so hard to build a future in a great profession.

O that we all can learn from rookies. Find that rookie in you and release it. Just for the fun of it.

About the author: Tom Reilly is a professional speaker and author of Value Added Selling