“ … all of us hold on tightly to many things we don’t really have.”
This line from Patrick Rhone’s book – This Could Help – got me thinking about our attitudes toward pipelines, relationships, and services.
Pipelines
I’m an advocate for strong qualification and pruning sales pipelines ruthlessly where necessary. Self-deception is rife when it comes to decisions about removing deals from pipelines. We hold onto dead opportunities, hoping they’ll close one day … somehow.
Relationships
For most of us, 80% of sales and profits come from just 20% our customer base. Yet we treat all clients equally, with disproportionate support for the lower paying ones. We hold onto a belief that these small accounts can grow … someway.
Services
While delivering projects we develop all kinds of know-how and intellectual property. We package this up, adding yet another service to our portfolio. We hold onto this menu of propositions thinking it will attract more clients … someday.
The bottom line
Holding onto these somehow, someway, and someday things distracts us from finding better deals; wastes time on unproductive relationships; and dilutes our core proposition.
How prepared are you to step back, take an objective view, and let go of those things you don’t really have?