The Tortoise, the Hare & You

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May 2014

We’ve all heard the story of the tortoise and the hare, the one where the swift and confident hare accepts a challenge to race the slow but wise tortoise.  Even though the hare had all of the skills necessary to win the race, he ultimately lost to the tortoise.  There are many life lessons from this tale like “slowly does it every time,” or “slow and steady wins the race.”  While meaningful, we interpret this story slightly different, and instead, we say, “consistency and perseverance wins the race.”

With some simple math, this whole concept makes a little more sense.  Even though the hare had the ability to run at a far greater speed than the tortoise, over the long haul, the tortoise stuck with consistency and perseverance and had the higher average speed.  This is what ultimately won the race.  Whether it was arrogance, tiredness, or some other reason, at several points throughout the event, the hare stopped moving and completely shut down.  This allowed the tortoise to sneak ahead for the win. This same situation applies to the life of sales representative.  While having a flash in the pan experience is great for the wallet, great for the ego, and great for hitting a goal, the same concept kicks in when we look at long-term success.   

Think of a sale as the final product of an assembly line.  If we understand how our sales are manufactured mathematically (read E=MC Sales), then we can know exactly how much activity we need each week to run the sales assembly line and win the race like the tortoise.  While reaching these activity goals can be tough, it’s important to remember that they need to be a week-in and week-out commitment.  Even when there is a break down in the system or even when faced with obstacles like new management, a new territory or even admin work, perseverance and dedication to the goals ensure consistency in results. Just a simple slip of a week or two can weaken the effectiveness of the system and cause a periodic lapse in the sales pipeline.   That means that what you do in one or two weeks can have a domino effect on your results for the entire quarter.  Think about that the next time you are only a few calls short of your goal. 

While closing a lot of business in a short period of time feels great, it can lead to the misconception that the race has been won.  This couldn’t be further from the truth, since the sales race is always running.  There are many sellers that thrive as a flash in the pan experience and sprint right out of the gates, but forget to pace themselves for the longevity of the race and fall victim to the obstacles.  Then there are the others that don’t allow their process to reach maximum potential due to a lack of activity and a lack of urgency to conquer the obstacles.  The goal should be to find a happy medium.  Like the tortoise, we need to continue to put one foot after the other, without fail, and maintain that average speed that will win the race and ultimately, help us reach our goals. 

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