Another Fish Story: Going to the Deep Sea...Where The Big Fish Are

This text is from our consulting firm's latest 321 Biz Development podcast found on fifteen podcast platforms.

No. This is not a motivational episode.

321 Biz Dev LLC has long believed putting motivation first as a method to improve sales performance has never worked. Motivational events like those held by well-known motivational speakers do little to help salespeople sell more if (and this is a BIG IF) salespeople have no formal sales system training.

On the other hand, if salespeople had sales system training prior to embracing motivational training, then motivational training, as a supplement, will help salespeople sell more.

This episode using a fishing analogy and is about salespeople leaving the safety of calm waters along the shore or fishing from a nice bridge to drop their lines into water…with hundreds of other fishermen. This analogy will look at the more riskier, deep-sea fishing done by salespeople who put out the effort to reap the big rewards.

Symbolically, everyone looks like they are fishing by throwing their lines into the water and waiting to get a bite. Yes, these fishermen look skilled at baiting their hooks. They look great decked out in the latest fishermen apparel. They have the latest rods and reels, the right test fishing line, and know which type of bait to use the catch the local fish.

But at the end of the day, these fishermen casting their lines in safe waters usually go home empty handed. They are ready to come out the next time, fish from the same location, fish with the same people, and, again, go home with no fish.

Now, contrast the fishermen on the dock with the group of people who go out to sea in a boat holding about 8 people. The boat is not huge, but it has enough people to maneuver the boat if the waters get rough.

This small group of fishermen are not dressed to impress. They are wearing the right clothes for the conditions in the water that might be a few miles from the shore. Their rods and reels do not hold 4lb test fishing line. These fishermen use 20-30lb test fishing line.

There is some potential danger going out to sea 3 miles off the shore. But the fishermen going out to sea know something the shoreline fishermen do not know. The big fish are 3 miles out and there are less fishermen to compete with.

When I use the phrase “big fish”, I am referring to selling big ticket, high price products and services with a starting price of (or potential commissions earned) $1,000 and up to $35,000, for products and services provided by attorneys, CPAs, dentists, plastic surgeons , financial services representatives and real estate brokers.

This comparison between the shoreline and the deep-sea fishermen is similar to the salespeople who play it safe, figuratively speaking, going after business every other salesperson is going after. Then, there are salespeople who want to make their efforts count by putting in primetime actions to get business most salespeople are reluctant to pursue.

As an example, the shoreline fishermen like to pay for advertising and post on social media because they do not want to engage people in face-to-face settings. The deep-sea fishermen prefer to initiate contact with potential clients in face-to-face settings and over the telephone.

The shoreline fishermen are mentally accustomed to not winning after putting in little to no effort. The deep-sea fishermen have winning sales track records because they are putting in the effort and taking calculated risks.

But here is the interesting comparison between the shoreline and the deep-sea fisherman.

Both the shoreline and the deep-sea fisherman are doing almost the same things. Both are showing up to a destination to fish (shore vs the deep-sea). Both are baiting their lines to catch fish. The major differences are the location and setting each group of fishermen choose to fish.

So what is stopping the shoreline fishermen from fishing where the deep-sea fishermen are fishing? Maybe the shoreline and the deep-sea fishermen have different levels of confidence? There is a lot of psychological anecdotes I could mention here but I am not a trained psychologist.

But what I do know is most salespeople can be trained to improve their sales performance by using a sales system. Shoreline salespeople can be put in a sales system to move through a learning curve to perform alongside deep-sea salespeople.

You see the deep-sea fishermen know something that the shoreline fishermen do not. The deep-sea fishermen have big expectations to be successful at the end of the day. The deep-sea fishermen know big effort always returns results. The shoreline fishermen are maybe skeptical about putting in lots of effort or the shoreline fishermen cannot see that risk vs reward outcome can be in their favor with the right training.

I totally understand if this podcast episode was maybe vague for some listeners. But I do believe that this message hit a few people right between the eyes...which is the intent.

If this episode provoked some deep thought about improving your sales performance, please do not hesitate to contact me, Rick Nappier, at 726-999-0999. Or, if you are Spanish language business owner, please contact Yeilyn Rodriguez, VP, Business Development specialist at 786-697-3400. Ms. Rodriguez is fluent in both Spanish and English.

Interested parties can also click HERE to complete a 5-minute questionnaire so 321 Biz Dev can learn more about your current sales situation or learn about your current or past experiences with trying to improve sales performance. Please complete the questionnaire and a 321 Biz Dev specialist will contact you within two business days.

We hope your enjoyed today’s podcast episode.

Rick, CEO