The title of this blog post is stolen from one of my favorite movies of all time - Grumpy Old Men. If you haven't seen it, it's a entertainingly sensational dramatization of what goes on when old men take to the ice.
Indeed I AM coming to you live from my ice fishing shack on beautiful Lake Poygan! ...and yes folks, it actually is the beat up old jalopy in the picture. Ahh, the wonders of a mobile office; I've got my cell phone, my laptop, and a high speed wireless internet connection courtesy of Alltel Wireless (it'd be an even better courtesy if I didn't have to pay the monthly fee for it). Not to mention the requisite modern day fishing technology; the shack may look humble, but it is equipped with a 10,000 BTU propane heater, various electronic fish locators/sonar, and even an underwater camera.
Well, you never know where inspiration will strike you, and today it struck me while I was sitting here fishing. When the fishing gets tough, just like it is right now, a good fisherman analyzes every aspect of his (or her) approach to find a way to catch fish. It's easy enough to succumb to the insanity of doing the same thing day in and day out while expecting diferent results, but that's not the approach I chose to take while investing my valueable (and limited) free time in my beloved hobby. Whether it's moving to a new location to find the fish, trying a new lure, or changing to a new tactic, this is what it takes to continue to be successful and catch fish even when others are not.
The same philosophy applies to a good salesperson. Even when times are tough, such as they definitely are with the current economic climate, a good sales person still finds a way to capitalize on the opportunity that can be found amidst the chaos. It's easy enough to revert back to old techniques just because they have worked for you in the past, but this does nothing to position you for succes in the present. On the ice, we call this fishing a memory. In sales, we call it being a has-been.
Right now is the perfect time to evaluate some of the biggest aspects of your sales process to figure out what you can do to make yourself more successful. Are you...
1. Pursuing the right prospects? (identify and target your Zebra!)
2. Targeting those prospects at the Power-level?
3. Prepared with a Power-level, value-based approach when you get there?
If the answer to any of the above questions is "No," then these are some ideas to get your sales methodolgy on track for the new year. If you need some inspiration to help you along the way, try signing up for your free subscription to Zebra University, where you will find all the sales tools and documents that we use with our customers in our consulting business.
One more caution... any new approach takes lasting dedication and discipline to make it work. It's easy when things get tough to revert back to your old ways, but try not to let this pitfall sabotage your efforts. Being succesful in today's business climate takes a different approach than it did even yesterday... Don't be a "grumpy old man" and allow yourself to revert back to your old ways of trying to land the big one. On that note, it's time for me to go try to find the fish!
