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Let The Trapeze Go

Written by: Laura Posey

Article Overview: Well here we are; it’s June already. So what have you done with your first six months? Given vacations, holidays, heat waves and other days off, most people only actually work about 10 out of the 12 months of the year. That means you should be at 60% of your total sales goal by now. Are you at 60% and moving forward daily? Most salespeople I meet are already off target at this time of year. In fact, many of them have even started adjusting those lofty goals they set in January (remember those?) down a bit. Why does that happen to so many of us? And how do we change it? Let’s use a little analogy to clear things up.

Let The Trapeze Go

Well here we are; it’s June already. So what have you done with your first six months? Given vacations, holidays, heat waves and other days off, most people only actually work about 10 out of the 12 months of the year. That means you should be at 60% of your total sales goal by now. Are you at 60% and moving forward daily?

Most salespeople I meet are already off target at this time of year. In fact, many of them have even started adjusting those lofty goals they set in January (remember those?) down a bit. Why does that happen to so many of us? And how do we change it? Let’s use a little analogy to clear things up.

Imagine you’re at the circus watching the trapeze artists. The first one climbs up the long ladder to that tiny platform, reaches over carefully, and grabs the trapeze bar. Then he looks longingly across the tent to the other platform where the pretty girl stands, raises up on his tippy toes and- whoosh- off the platform he jumps, falling gracefully through the bottom of his arc and pushing back up again on the other side. As he reaches the pinnacle of his swing he pauses for a moment, seeming to hang in mid-air before beginning his backward decent, only to repeat it all over again.

Doesn’t that sort of seem like your job? Every January you stand perched on the edge of the platform, a brand new year stretched out ahead of you. Somewhere far on the other side on the other platform is your goal, waiting for you to swing over and claim it. But instead of moving forward to the next trapeze and the next one and the next, you end up swinging back and forth on the same one you started with, waiting to build enough courage to let go of the sure thing in your hand and reach out to the next trapeze waiting in the air for you.

Sometimes you do muster enough courage to let go of the trapeze you’re on- with one hand. You reach out, grab the new bar and…. you get stuck in the middle. Now you’re hanging high over the crowd, the old trapeze in one hand, the new one in the other. And you’ve lost all of your momentum. In order to move forward at all you’ll have to let go of the old swing and work like crazy to get the new one started.

Have you picked out the point of this metaphor? It is about change. Most of us are afraid to really change the way we do things, to break with the old style of selling and embrace new ways of connecting with prospects. We spend our days swinging on the same old trapeze, comfortably close to our well-known platform. We’re moving and we feel like we’re making progress but in reality we are just going through the motions. Sure, we’re somewhat successful; we are on the trapeze in the first place, not down on the floor with the clowns. But are we really getting where we want? Are we really making progress toward our big life goals?

In order to move forward towards the sales we want to make and the lives we want to lead we have to learn to let go of our old trapeze with both hands. We have to be willing to do things differently, sometimes dramatically differently, if we want to move forward. We have to be willing to swing with all our might, take a deep breath and fly through the air towards the new trapeze.

What changes can you make that will propel you towards that new trapeze? Do you need to network more or get more referrals so you rely less on cold calling? Would becoming a better master of your time help? Should you take the leap and finally learn to focus your prospecting efforts rather than scatter your resources over a broad area? Or could you once and for all learn to discipline yourself to accomplish all those things on your task list every single day?

As we move into summer and you’re surrounded by vacations and fun and sun, think about the trapeze you might be stuck on. Look deep inside yourself and see if you can find the courage to let go of your old, worn out swing and leap bravely onto a brand new trapeze that is closer to your dreams. I promise you, the first one is the hardest but the most rewarding.

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Article Tags: marketing, motivation, sales, sales tips, small business



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