Am ReTelling a story I heard once. I did not write the parable, or concept, but this is my own version. It is a story can be useful when managing sales people, or managing one’s self
CHICKEN OR FEATHERS?
The sales game can be a lot like chasing chickens. Some days you catch the chicken and you get a nice payoff because you get to eat the meat that is the result of your work. Some days you miss the chicken and get nothing. But the hardest days can be the days you only get a mouth full of feathers.
Let me explain:
New salespeople often complain when they work hard to land a sale or complete a job, only to have the effort fail to result in an order.
Even experienced sales pros can find that a market has changed, evolved a bit, so that when the pro does what has always worked before, they find that they are are getting “close” more often than they are “closing”.
Back to chasing chickens: When you miss the chicken altogether, you get nothing for your effort. You can’t do that for very long and be happy in sales. When you are sharp, on your game, one step ahead of your prospect, you get closer to catching the chicken. The difference between chicken and feathers is the difference between closing and not closing.
The days when you get close enough to almost taste that chicken, but come away with only a mouth full of feathers may lead to grumbling and complaining. However, these are days to be celebrated! A mouthful of feathers means you are getting close!
Whether you are new at sales, or an old pro who is chasing a chicken that has a few new tricks, you can use the mouthful of feathers to motivate a little exam of your game. A little extra effort, one more push, or a new move right at the last turn in the chase can make all the difference.
Have you ever watched somebody chase a chicken? Most people can’t catch one. The ones that get close enough to get some feathers are on the right track.
Why quit when you are that close? Why stop at feathers when one more push might land a nice dinner?
Here’s to more chicken and less feathers for everybody!
Copyright 2007 Lonn Dugan, Real Estate Coach, www.MyRealCoach.com - All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted or quoted or re-used under express written permission which is hereby granted SO LONG AS story is used in it's entirely, a link is provided to this post, and copyright notice remains intact up to the very end of this sentence.