I’m Having a Big Mac Attack!

Credit: Bill Gillespie

In the mid 90s I took my secretary to lunch. We picked an asian restaurant that was her favorite. She was an aerobics instructor at night and this place had dishes that suited her style.

I ordered my entree. She said "that's like eating two Big Macs." I added egg rolls. She responded, "that's like eating 1.5 Big Macs."

I don't remember what she ordered. I was too busy wondering how I was going to digest the equivalent of 3.5 burgers. Somehow I managed without feeling "burger stuffed."

A week later I was with a pal that sells insurance. He was on some special "all you can eat meat" diet. I sat in amazement as he consumed 2 pounds of pulled pork. He explained how the human body worked and because he was skipping sauce and potatoes he would be losing weight.

I shared my asian food story with him and pondered aloud. "Everything I ordered worked out to more than 1 Big Mac. Maybe I should simply go on a Big Mac diet." He told me that wouldn't work because of the "special sauce."

I don't know about you guys but I think he was on the "special sauce." He dropped the diet a few weeks later when he visited his bathroom scales.

People want magic tricks or shortcuts to lose weight. It's exactly the same in sales. Neither is rocket science. Neither has viable shortcuts. Both are simple and both are hard work. Both are full of flawed advice too.

Wanna know how to sell? Here it is. It hasn't changed either. The tools are different but the process is still the same.

Set Goals
Prospect (find targets that fit your goals)
Research Prospects
Make Contact (stick with it)
Earn Appointment
Learn From the Visit
Stay in Contact
Share Your Business Case (solve problems not bids)
Make Prospect Want to Do Business
Become #1 Source
Become Plugged in at Top
Ask for Contracts

Do these things and stay in touch with where you are in the process. Ignore shortcut advice.

I could write volumes on each of these steps. Perhaps I will. There is lots of misinformation out there (don't prospect, cold calls don't work etc.) that needs to be ignored.

These things are fad diets. The so called sales experts and trainers can't do what is required. Frightened or frustrated reps (sales managers too) buy into this junk because they want a shortcut. It's baloney and a waste of time.

Lemetellyousomething. Shortcuts don't work. Doing the stuff works. If you're an aerobics instructor sweating to the oldies you can eat whatever you want. And, you shouldn't take diet advice from a guy wearing a size 50 jacket eating 2 pounds of pork.

I've been doing this a long time. Barriers make some of the processes longer than they once were but the steps are still the same. Platforms like LinkedIn make research easier too.

The tools are different but selling (persuasion) is still meeting, learning, suggesting possibilities and delivering the goods. Don't be deceived by magic answers.

Gotta go. I was on a trick diet last week. I’ve gotta cancel out all of that seafood. Something bad will happen if I don't.