Now I’m as much a fan of following a good thing as anybody, but I’m also a mild skeptic (ok, perhaps a bit of a cynic) and so I’m not much into following the masses.

Interestingly, there are a lot of places in our lives and in our world right now where some good followers are really needed. And at the same time, if I had may choices, I’d rather see a lot more leaders.

In business, (especially in marketing) it’s too easy to be a part of the majority and be bland – say the right things, use powerful words that have lost their power, not piss anybody off, you get the idea. But the fact is that success is almost always driven through leadership and not being one of the lemmings, I mean majority.

Lead. Majorities can’t do it, but you can.

Make a defining difference – Chris

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they are losing, I simply know they aren’t getting the most out of whatever it is they’re doing. Also, I get the idea of the statement, but my challenge is that it doesn’t reflect how life actually works – how people actually work.

If you look at nature, the universe, successful entrepreneurs, or anything that really grows, they rarely grow “slowly and steadily”. They might grow slowly, they might grow continually (until they start to decay), but rarely does it play out quite like that.

We do life in bursts.
Universe does life in bursts.
Machinery does things “slow and steady, blah blah blah”.

We are not intended to be consistent, ongoing working machines that consistently and predictably churn out some piece of output. We do things in bursts or spurts. People have “flashes of brilliance” or “moments of great insight”. We say things like Eureka! and Ah Ha. But we don’t churn brilliance three times a day with two 15 minute breaks and a 1 hour lunch breaking them up.

What’s my point? Burst! Do things in sprints and then take a little break. Give yourself a responsible diversion (no, this is not a license to be lazy, procrastinate or become a surfer) so that you can create better results. This doesn’t mean don’t work hard; it means be incredibly focused as you work hard and then your “smarts” can actually show up.

The next time someone says “slow and steady wins the race” to you, ask them not to interrupt you while you’re passing them.

Make a defining difference.
Chris

However, something seems to haywire when people know they have to “close a sale”. There is no question that when you have to close a sale, people can smell it – they can smell your “commission breath”. They know what you are after and the more you pursue it directly, typically, the more they resist. Also, in the old days, people would help a person hit their numbers; there’s no room for that anymore. So going directly for a deal just doesn’t work the same way it used to.

The other thing to consider is that, while we want a new client or a new transaction, ultimately, we’re want a lot more than that. Most mindful entrepreneurs that I know want to make a difference and impact the people they are working with – they want it to matter. So while the transaction is good, there is something much more important at stake.

I want you to stop trying to close deals. I want to encourage you to start opening relationships.

Sales is about exchange, and exchange is the result of trusted transactions. As a matter of fact, the more the trust, the larger the transactions. But they don’t happen without high levels of trust. The answer? Open amazing relationships and then let the transactions flow from them. There are still sales questions to be asked and answered. But now they can be both asked and answered from positions of authenticity, possibility and truly caring for what is happening for the other party.

Don’t close sales. Make a defining difference and open relationships.

Chris Venn