Perhaps not your typical B2B sales question, but here goes. What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Right!!!! What kind of sales question is that?
Here is some background for context.
The breakfast details
I have been working on getting back into running for the last month. I’ve been a “runner” in the past, working up to marathon distance, and have even ventured into triathlons up to Ironman distance. Then, something happened. I’m not sure what it was exactly. The training was not fun. It felt like work. And then work priorities took over, career aspirations went into high gear, and somewhere in that, life just took over with a house purchase, wedding and child.
Now you may be thinking I am shopping in the excuse store. And you would be correct. Those are excuses I was telling myself why I could not train. It did not take long before I avoided training altogether, ate poorly, and was back at my weight pre-running days. At some point, I just had to say this is crazy; let’s refocus and return to being healthy.
When the last big excuse (a planned house reno) passed, I decided to get back into daily exercise. Knowing that my body had taken on some weight and the muscles were weak from lack of use, I started with daily walks. For two weeks, I walked 7 km, or about 1 hour and 15 minutes, in my neighbourhood at 6 am. After two weeks, I was ready to take on running. My legs felt more substantial (than they had while not exercising), so I started to run. I made it 2 km into my run and then had to stop and walk again. This is how I learned to run, and I knew I would have to build on this. I increased a little distance every time I ran, which is where I am today. I am up to 4 km running and 3 km walking, and I want to run 10 km by the end of the summer.
That brings me to my post-workout meal, breakfast. My breakfast has been two slices of toast with coffee for the longest time. Of course, I make my bread, but it is still bread. And then today, out of the blue, my daughter looked at my freshly toasted breakfast and said, “Boy, I should go for some toast for breakfast this morning!” And then I did what I would imagine most fathers would do.
“Get your bread!”
No, I didn’t say that. Maybe I thought it, but it never was spoken. Instead, I asked her how she would like it (lightly buttered), and then I contemplated.
Do I cut two more slices, OR do I make a change?
I am already in a change state. I had just run longer than I had previously in a long time, and the body needed nutrients, and I could see that now may be an ideal time to try something else that may give me more energy and fill me up with more energy to get me through the day.
And that was the choice I made. Thankfully, we had eggs! And fruit. Some easy, scrambled eggs, blueberries and strawberries. I finished that off with my morning coffee on the patio. And I felt more energized and even creative enough to want to document this. It’s been a while since I have blogged (yes, Tim, about a year, what have you been doing?), and it just felt right to document this and put it “out there.”
That brings me back to my original question to you.
Where are you in your review of your sales cycle and process review? Have you reviewed what has been working and what needs improvement from how you have been selling for the last 1 – 2 years? Are you stuck doing the same tactics, using the same tools, and following the same methodology that does not produce the desired results? Sometimes, we know what we are doing is not producing the results we want, and yet we are hesitant to make the change because it is easier to shop at the excuse store than to take action. Taking action is hard. Making better choices without knowing what the outcome may be is hard. And without making any changes, we likely will remain stuck where we are, and living with the lack of lustre results that everyone else seems crushing.
Occasionally, a guide appears, and we are unsure why they are directing us in a new direction. My daughter was my guide this morning. She could have quickly asked for her regular breakfast and instead asked for something new. That condition changed my outlook and, ultimately, my choice to move in a different direction. Because of this one small change, I had a story to tell, took the time to get my thoughts down and now have a new blog post up. Can I keep this up, meaning sharing more content and moving towards better results for my business? Only if I choose to stay out of the excuse store. It may look good there, and they make staying easy, but the outside is much better.
Today, if the conditions are right for you, choose change. Find one piece in your sales process that is not working. Write a better email. Connect with a different target market on LinkedIn. Ask additional questions in your discovery meeting with your potential new client. Negotiate from a different position on the next deal. Take a small step towards being better and put it into action. Then share your results in the comments below.
What did you have for breakfast this morning? I hope it energized you to leave the excuse store and take action on moving your sales forward.
