My wife, Laurie and I took golf lessons together for a while.
Laurie was a beginner, and got to where she could hit the ball quite well at times. I was not a beginner, but I have never been what anyone would refer to as a great golfer. However, when I hit a golf ball squarely on the sweet spot of my driver – it sails straight down the fairway and goes about 250 yards!
I love it when that happens!
But when you look at how many times I am able to duplicate that from a tee box – you immediately understand why I do not play golf for a living. I find myself wishing that golf were more like sales in one particular way. If only I could hit the sweet spot on my driver 35-40% of the time and still make a great living at the game – oh what fun I would have!
In sales, you should expect a 35-40% closing ratio in most industries. If not, you may need skill improvement. Or you may be spending too much time not selling in your sweet spot.
In the industries in which I have sold and managed sales people we always had a sweet spot in which we found the majority of our new clients. In the industrial uniform industry and the employee benefit industry – our sweet spot was usually based on number of employees. In your industry, it could be based on something completely different. But I promise you, your sweet spot exists and is where you should put the majority of your focus.
Dave Brock posted a great blog on the subject that is well worth a read.
Enjoy!
http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/dont-sell-where-you-lose/
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