January
2009
The Tortoise Strategy to Win
I am sure you have heard the fable about the Tortoise and the Hare. It is a story about an improbable race with an unexpected outcome. The lessons we learn from this fable is not to diddle dawdle when we should keep moving persistent and consistent toward our goals.
Well, let’s twist this fable a little. What if it was a story about two salespeople and one of the salespeople had the qualities of the Hare. You know what I mean, a salesperson that appears to have everything going right. This would be someone with all the qualities of a super star. The image that comes to my mind is the vision Hollywood would likely cast for the role of a superstar salesperson. You can spot this person in a crowd as someone with good looks, charming to everyone and impressive in stature.
For the Tortoise role in this story, Hollywood would cast someone short, over weight and probably not too attractive. Whomever they picked, this person would not have the leading role character features and he or she would be expected to lose the race.
As the fable goes, the Hare and the Tortoise are challenged to a race that the Hare could easily win. To keep the competition fair, the Fox is selected to map the course and the race begins. Along the race course route, the Hare is so confident of victory that a nap is foolishly taken. Time passes and when the Hare awakens from the nap and sprints to the finish, the Tortoise has already won and is found victoriously napping at the finish line. Don’t you just love this!
Why the Tortoise Wins
One of the features I like about the Tortoise is that in order to move forward, the Tortoise must stick its neck out. This is a wonderful quality that we can all learn from. The natural pace of the Tortoise is slow and steady. This is like the best practices of drip marketing sales activity for a salesperson or a business - slow, steady and consistent.
In my travels, I have consulted with thousands of business owners and salespeople. Some of my more successful contacts have been like the Tortoise and the best qualities I have grown to appreciate of these winners are goal oriented, persistent and focused.
When we examine successful businesses today, we will find success in those with the Tortoise action plan. What I mean is that those businesses that have stuck their neck out and pushed forward with consistent forward action.
Fable Thoughts and Actions
If we read the papers, we are in a down economy; the opportunities for business are significantly reduced today. Unless a salesperson or business has been steadily building and nurturing a pipeline of warm prospects, it is going to be tough. This means that if you adopted the Tortoise strategy with persistent and consistent sales and marketing campaigns, you will thrive and survive. If you are more like the Hare in your selling and marketing activities, you may end up losing and missing out on with limited opportunities.
The moral of this story is the same for children and salespeople. You don’t have to be a superstar to win. If you apply consistent, persistent activity and stick your neck out toward your goals, you will be the winner.
By Steve Martinez - the Sales Magician for Business Development
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