Not knowing the right thing to do at the right time can
destroy you.
I was reminded of this over the weekend.
You see I finally got around to raking the pine needles off
my back lawn.
I had put off raking for a few weeks, partly out of denial.
Denial in that if I didn’t rake the needles, then maybe,
just maybe, the damage wouldn’t be so bad.
Maybe.
Unfortunately though, the damage really was bad.
So bad that it potentially could cost me thousands of
dollars next spring to fix the damage.
What I am taking about?
Moles.
A mole, or a family of moles, has infested my back yard.
It started about 6 weeks ago, but I didn’t know what to do.
I stamped down the tunnels a few times.
But the tunnels kept coming back. And they would get longer
each time.
I kept thinking that if I just stamped em down, they’d
eventually stop tunneling.
I mean it worked before for me. I stopped these little
competitors just by stomping on their tunnels a few times.
But this year was something new.
They were out in force.
Tunnels. More tunnels. Longer tunnels. Tunnel branches
everywhere.
I have so much mud mixed in what was a nice lawn that now my
backyard looks like our local high school football team held
practice out here everyday for the last week.
I may need to replace about a third of the square footage of
my lawn now, cause once you get mole tunnels in there, the
moles keep coming back and reopening the tunnels looking for
fresh underground food.
And this all happened because I didn’t know the right thing
to do when attack came.
WHY I LOST A MEGA 7 FIGURE DEAL
This reminds me of a seven figure deal I lost back in 1998.
I knew my company and my products really well.
In fact I did a lot of qualifying and interviewing of my
prospect before I committed to pursue this sale.
I had a blind spot though.
One of my competitors was a better fit than I was.
But I didn’t know this.
I thought that based on the wants and needs that were most
important to the customer, I had the best fit.
So I pursued the sale very aggressively.
I made it to the short, short list. I was in the final two.
As the deal got closer to the end I started hearing things
from the contacts I had inside the account that dismayed me.
The customer’s technical staff was beginning to believe that
my competitor had a better solution for their key technical
criteria.
I was shocked!
I eventually lost the deal on this one major issue.
I lost and was outsold due to my blind spot.
I thought I knew my competitor well, but it turns out I
didn’t.
I thought I knew the right thing to do at the right time,
but I didn’t.
I thought that the competitive intelligence that my
marketing staff gave me was up to date, but it wasn’t.
So eight years ago I lost a million dollar battle to
competitor I thought I knew.
And last week I lost 1/3 my back lawn to a little competitor
I thought I knew.
CHECK YOUR BLIND SPOTS FOR SUCCESS
Both of these stories illustrate the perils of letting
urgent activities rule you rather than focusing on important
activities.
Had I gotten on top of my mole problem right away, I could
have limited the damage.
Had I researched my competitor more fully eight years ago, I
could have changed strategy or pulled out of that deal and
saved the lost sales time.
Just thinking things should be the way you want them to be
does not make it so.
As you close out your 2005 sales year, check and double
check your blind spots.
Otherwise you might find a mole in your next deal that costs
you a huge commission!
ADVICE TO SALES PEOPLE WHO WANT TO CLOSE MORE SALES
Forget giving away your time, attention and knowledge to
prospects who don’t purchase. Learn 5 simple skills that
will enable you to close significantly more in the same time
that you are working now. No more cheesy closing lines.
Go to http://www.industrialego.com
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