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Why Selling Copiers is a lot like Fishing

 

On my recent vacation in Deerfield Beach, Florida, I had the chance to catch up on some fishing.

The day before I was going to fish,  I thought I would check out the pier and see what types of rigs were being used, what was being caught, the type of bait they were using and possibly what was the best time to go fishing.  I figured I would get an early start and made it to the pier by about 6AM.

The fishing pier was about a quarter mile long and was shaped as a T at the end.  I noticed there were two types of fishing going on.

One group of anglers were armed with five or six fishing poles each. They were fishing for the REALLY big ones, Tarpon, Wahoo, Cobia and Barracuda.

The other group of anglers were armed with one fishing pole and fishing for the REALLY small ones, Grunts, Runners, Puffers and some other name I can't recall.

Our first group anglers the Really Big Ones  would bait up all of the their poles, cast them out and then wait, and wait and wait some more. After being there for four hours,  there was not one REALLY big fish caught by the REALLY BIG ONES, as a matter of fact they caught none!  They were caught up in the waiting game.....and what's the old saying "winners make things happen and losers wait for things to happen".

Our second group of anglers the REALLY SMALL ONES were only using one pole each. However,  this type of fishing seemed to best if you were there to catch fish. Once they lowered the lines they were getting hits and bringing fish in, no big fish, but never the less, they were bringing one and two pounders consistently. These guys were constantly changing their baits, cutting their baits and rail'in and pail'in fish! That's what they came for, heck they didn't even have the time to rest! That's fishing, working the bait, and spotting the fish.

Another Fishing Event

sandy_ck7-442x327In a recent trip to upstate New York during Salmon season.  You can travel the bank of the river and find 5 or 6 anglers wading in the river, making noise, and moving from slot to slot.  These anglers are waiting on the fish, however, wading around, talking to your buddies does nothing more than to spook the fish. Alas, these are the anglers that go home with nothing.

The anglers that take the time to scout the river, move slowly, walk quietly and spot the fish, have a better chance of getting their reward. 

That day, I traveled a small stream by myself, after 20 minutes or so of walking, I saw an area of the stream that pooled up ahead of me. 

Knowing that there was a good chance their would be fish hanging in the pool, I moved slowly and quietly to the pool.  Before stepping in the water I scouting the pool and noticed that there were about a half a dozen fish in that pool (some really big ones).  I scouted the fish for about ten minutes and noticed a pattern of how those fish moved.  One undercut bank to the next, each one of them would push another one out because there was not enough room in the two undercut banks for all of them. 

55_1wild_cohoSlowly, I entered the pool, and stood still for some time, just watching the pattern develop.  I casted my sponge in between the two undercut banks and out in front of the first.  I was hoping that fish would then hit the sponge when he exited the undercut bank.  Well, he did and I ended up with a 22lb Coho Salmon. It was a wonderful day!

So, where's the meat in all of this? Well, the guys who fished hard and were willing to take the smaller fish were the guys who went home with fish. The guys who wanted the big ones, got nothing and went home with no fish. 

Seems to me this is a lot like sales, you can be the sales person who only goes after the big ones or the salesperson who is willing to work harder and take the smaller ones. Day in and day out the salesperson who works hard and takes the smaller deals can out sell the sales person who waits on the big ones.

I've always stated that I may not be the best sales person nor the best closer, however what I will do is out work everyone else.

A friend of mine once said, "the hardier you work, the luckier you get"

-=Good Selling=-

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Comments (7)

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Nice story. I myself , a past big game fisherman, did a great deal of scouting out the sea, checked the weather, tides, fishing reports, local knowledge, have had a great deal of success angling the bid ones . As many as 20 sailfish in a day , endorse the planning your trips well.
In a similar fashion , have sold many major accounts. Plan your work, work your plan. Be patient.
Good selling, good fishing..
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