There has got to be a pony…
The Supreme Court decision in late June 2012 has been a source of speculation for many sales professionals I have encountered over the past few weeks as well as a major contributor to uncertain market direction and the focus of many business owners. I work with professionals from many industries who are impacted by this decision at one level or another, either as a small employer, insurance agent who just had his market focus decimated, or legal professional who will be hired to make sense of it all. The common theme from each one of these is…Now what do we do?
This brings to mind a story that my grandmother shared with me – and now I would like to share it with you. Twin baby girls were born to a very poor family. The parents recognized they couldn’t have any hopes of raising both babies and chose to give one away to a wealthy family in a nearby town who had desperately wanted children for many years. Both girls were raised in loving homes. We dropped in for a visit when both girls were 8 years old. The little girl raised by wealthy parents was led into a room full of toys, books and games. She dove into the pile and began digging frantically. She began sobbing and crying because she couldn’t find the ball to play with in pink only blue. The second little girl was taken to a filthy stable and left alone. We come back a couple of hours later and find her digging into a huge pile of manure. When asked what was she looking for her reply was ‘Somewhere in all this there’s got to be a pony’.
This story is an example of what we are often faced with as business professionals. We buy our own press on our product, market or approach and when that changes, we keep looking for the pink ball. Your clients buy from you for your knowledge and abilities. Nothing else. If they are buying products or based on price you are not a sales person, you are an order taker – not a business development professional and certainly not the trusted advisor that our current business climate demands. No matter how this recent event has impacted you – either as a business owner now trying to budget for how many people you can afford to hire next year, an agency who has to now sell a consulting solution instead of a product or the attorney who’s client base is now cut in half due to consolidation in the market – suck it up, get your shovel and find the pony.
It’s in there somewhere, and when you do, I wish you…
Good Selling!