I just finished a GREAT book by the late Felix Dennis, of Dennis Publishing fame (Maxim magazine, Computer Shopper, MacWorld, and many others.)
HIs book is a brutal take on what it takes to become hugely successful in business. It runs the gamut from people skills to sales & negotiating skills, to hiring the right talent, to knowing when to stay in and when to get out, to the getting of capital.
It's the getting of capital I'm writing to you about today, because if you read that chapter with an open mind and not just a mind toward getting capital, there is a very powerful lesson all salespeople need to learn.
The Hidden Lesson
In the chapter, he talks about elephants and fleas. Elephants are the providers of capital. Potential providers, that is. They're the bankers, the venture capitalists, and others with money to invest and who are always on the lookout for great places to invest it.
The flea is, you guessed it, the budding entrepreneur, trying to find funding for his start-up company. The trouble is that the flea has little or no power when dealing with elephants. He pretty much has to take what he can get.
To make matters worse, he really cannot approach elephants and ask for capital. This puts him in a position of weakness, and since the elephants know this, it reduces him to groveling for money.
But there's a loophole....
As intimidating and powerful as the elephant may be, he must still face his master, the mahout. The mahout is the institutional investor - the people who invest their money in banks and venture capital firms. The trouble for the elephant starts if there's a successful start-up out there, making waves and garnering attention, but the elephant misses it.
If the mahout hears about the successful start-up before the elephant does, and learns that the firm is not invested there, the elephant is in big trouble. And this creates an opportunity for the flea to attract money to him.
By positioning himself in such a way that he becomes visible to the elephants, the elephants begins to fear that the mahout will find the start-up first, and before you know it, the budding entrepreneur is receiving offers for the capital he needs.
He doesn't lose power by approaching any elephants, but actually gains power because he knows that every elephant who approaches him is in need of a good place to invest his boss's capital.
How Does This Apply to Sales?
The answer to that is simple: You are a flea, and your potential prospects are elephants. And the same situation appiles - if you want to have any chance of success, you must get the elephants to come to you, rather than going to them groveling for sales.
The trouble is that most salespeople do just that: They approach elephants directly, and then wonder why they don't sell as much as they could.
If they were able to attract the attention of elephants, they'd be closing sales and picking up checks all day long. And guess what? The salespeople in the world who know how to attract the elephants to them do just that!
If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.
New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com
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