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I took a walk with my best friend in the world yesterday. His name is Fred. I love Fred. He’s my German Shepherd dog. My wife hates when I talk about Fred like this…jealousy.

“…if this guy kept at it long enough he would eventually catch a fish.”

What’s Going on Here?
While we were walking, Fred got very interested in a neighbor, named Joe, that appeared to be fishing in his front lawn. You read that right. And when I say “fishing,” I mean casting a lure in all directions and reeling it in. Over and over and over. And fast. He must have been casting once every 10 seconds.

The problem is that we have no water within about 37 miles of our neighborhood. Sales tips are what I write about in this sales blog; I was hoping that he wasn’t the author of a fishing tips blog. Seemed like ol’ Joe was a bit misdirected.

Fred was about ready to come off his leash because he found all of this so fascinating…we were both in agreement on that. As I got closer, I realized this dry-land angler was actually practicing his casting skills. He was using a rubber lure with no hooks.

He Might Actually Catch a Fish
It occurred to me as Fred and I walked by that if this guy kept at it long enough he would eventually catch a fish. I’m serious. Think about it. If Joe stood on his front lawn long enough, someday there would be a flood that would provide enough water for some fish-like thing to end up on his front lawn. If he relentlessly kept casting that hook-less rubber lure at that fish-like thing, it would eventually get tangled in the line and he could reel it in. Bingo. He just “caught” a fish.

Sales Blog Wrap-Up
If we’re honest with ourselves, we sometimes prospect like Joe. We will eventually land a new customer now and then, but the return on our time and effort can be abysmal because of how we go about it.

• When we take a pure selling-is-just-a-numbers game approach to sales this can happen.
• If we just go through the motions of prospecting, aren’t we making “rubber lure” sales calls?
• Making no effort to qualify prospects can make us dry-land anglers.
• Carelessly throwing cast after cast in the wrong places wastes our time.

Imagine the difference in results and satisfaction if Joe were to put a real lure on his line and carefully cast into water where his research indicated the fish were biting. It’s a much more enjoyable and productive way to prospect for customers too.

Fred was very pleased to contribute some sales tips to his best friend’s sales blog.

Further reading:

• Contrary to popular opinion, sales is NOT just a numbers game.

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Tags: Prospecting, prospects

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