If you sell, you know there’s always been a barrier.
It sits between where you are and where you know you belong.
Everyone knows it’s there.
But nobody can explain it.
We can.
And there’s only one way to break through it.
But you have to be willing to let go
of everything you thought sales was.
Most people won’t.
That’s why it's still there.
We're saying a lot, we know.
But if you’re staying with us, we have to start at the beginning:
where do sales results come from?
We believe all results flow from a single source.
It’s called the atmosphere of trust.
And when people hear it—they see it.
But what people think is creating it—isn't.
The atmosphere of trust came from the battlefield.
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Sales is old. Our thinking about it is even older.
Most of what still guides sales today is governed by the unexamined dogma we’ve all inherited. “Sales is all about relationships” is a perfect example.
I lead an elite team. But we weren’t exempt.
Which is why, at first, the idea that all results flow from the atmosphere of trust seemed almost too obvious. No "methodology?" No "process?" What could we be missing?
Then we saw it. The atmosphere of trust is shaped by our signals—not our trustworthiness.
From there, everything followed.
We immediately saw how our legacy beliefs and behaviors (Stapleton calls it the Traditional Sales Mindset) had been causing us to send signals that were quietly working against us.
We also saw that we had a decision to make: continue the endless journey of becoming a better traditional sales team—or let go of the traditional thinking that was keeping us stuck.
It was an easy call.
Chris Ahearn, CEO
Oakwood Worldwide​