The Accidental Salesman

I was reminded this morning how answers always come when you go looking for them. They may not necessarily come straight away but they do come.

I do the Sudoku puzzles in the Daily Mail, often just before I go to bed and first thing in the morning. For some strange reason it seems to help rather than hinder. Everyday there is a puzzle section including 6 puzzles ranging from easy to difficult. For an expert at Sudoku the difficult puzzle is actually quite easy as my 13 year old niece anoyingly demonstrated with a puzzle I had been struggling with for days!

Anyway, back to today…….. I had been stuck on a particular difficult puzzle for a week (ie a week of 20 minutes a day). I normally throw them away and raid the recycling box for another one but with this particular puzzle I had been making a little progress…..if 1 number a day can be called progress!! I would scan and scan before going to bed and then when I wake up and looked at the puzzle over breakfast I quickly found a number.

This morning was no different except that once I found the one number I immediately found the next number, then the next, and the next. Before I knew it the whole puzzle was completed. It had taken me 5 days to get 5 numbers and as soon as I got the 6th then I got the rest in less than 5 minutes.

It’s amazing how little things can make a big difference!!

In sales its the same. You start out at a particular level of ability and you are always looking to get to the next level. Average people give up looking when the answers do not appear straight away. They resign themselves to their current levels of income or go and try selling something else.

But the truth is that if you keep persevering looking for the answers, trying new out new approaches, strategies, and subtle changes to your existing approach you will eventually get a break. This break will often inconsequential at the time. Yet this break can lead to massive increases in results. You will then reach the next block and start all over again, except this time you are at a much higher level of success than before. This is true for beginners, accidental sales people and top performing salespeople. It’s one reason why top salespeople are always reading, attending seminars, looking……

A small difference can make a big difference - what are you going to do differently today?

Best wishes

Richard

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