(I just reread the title of this and it doesn’t seem to make any sense but I like it anyway so it stays!)
Whenever a random topic comes up three independent times over the course of a 2 day span there’s a pattern. It means it’s time to post it and put some thoughts down on paper. To my surprise the topic this time is Chess.
I’m not going to win any awards for my chess abilities. I can win a game or two every now and then (don’t have the patience to play a computer, I enjoy the poker elements of the game too much). The trick I’ve employed is to always have a plan. Never make a move without a goal, never capture a piece for the sake of the capture. You’re skill level is the intersection of your ability to plan and then adapt those plans in the face of opposition.
That same skill level is the same for your ability to win business. Sales is not just some hit ’em between the eyes event. There’s strategy and gamesmanship that needs to occur. Every meeting should be to move the prospect one level up the line and not just more “introduction.”
How many meetings do you need to move a cold client from zero interest to closed sell? If you don’t know the answer then you don’t have a plan and you probably aren’t as effective as you should be.