Why is sales like gardening? Well think about it …..
We have passed the spring equinox, yesterday the clocks went forward and everywhere, nature is bursting into leaf. Wow! Isn’t this time of year exhilarating?
If you’re a keen gardener like me, after a winter when you could only dream about the warmer days, now you’re preparing the soil, starting to sow seeds and transplanting things as they grow.
So today’s tip is a well used metaphor, but a great one for spring.
To reap your harvest, there are some things you need to do first.
Winter was for dreaming and planning (so have you planned what you want to achieve? This is like your Vision Statement or your Strategic Business Goals. If you need to know more, this is a great time to learn it). I did some research, decided what plants I wanted to grow and I ordered the seeds.
Preparation – turning over the soil, weeding, preparing (have you worked out what you are going to offer, the prices, the packages, how you are going to deliver things?)
Sowing – you plant your seeds, you water them and look after them as they grow (this is outreach – either promotional marketing or outbound sales and then your equivalent of watering is the following up and the nurturing)
Harvest – you enjoy the flowers, the fruit, the vegetables (this is you getting the sales, winning the business and reaping the rewards).
Reflection – at the end of the year, you work out which plants were successes and which were failures and you incorporate the lessons into next year’s plans (this is about feedback and continuous improvement)
Sometimes I think we just make sales too jolly complicated!
Enjoy your bank holiday Monday!
Sales is just like Gardening
