The inner game of sales, marketing, and growth
I’ve always respected the deep seeded belief in having enough...
No matter where they’re at - they can create and cultivate their opportunities.
It doesn’t matter if they have $500 in their account,
$5,000
$50,000
$500,000
$5,000,000
...or the equivalent in the red.
They back themselves to emerge victorious.
Every time you talk to them, there is an air of positivity, and it’s rarely attributable to the numbers above, but to a healthy commitment to the process.
On the contrary...
I think we’ve all come into contact with people that are permanently oppressed by a force that is detached from them...
...dissolving them of any responsibility as though the world is constantly taking away from them, and giving to others.
The victims of their reality.
It’s never them.
It’s their competitors.
It’s the market.
It’s their unappreciative clients.
Or that they constantly seem to run into ‘price shoppers’ for prospects.
(side note - the truth is, if anyone is having a conversation with you and are too price driven, 9 times out of 10, it’s because there hasn’t been a clear communication of value to their outcomes - that’s it).
In fact, I can remember a handful of people that I would speak to that would sit in Column B.
A typical check in would go through;
How is your week going, how are you feeling?
How are your clients, are they happy?
How are your opportunities - what’s coming up, and on the horizon?
Like clockwork, the ones that have done the work, and are eager to learn and progress, will always have an air of confidence, and rattle off everything that is coming up.
They have their finger on the pulse, and they’re thriving.
It’s a high vibe conversation and you just know that things are happening and moving in a good direction.
The ones that are stuck in a rut, will only focus on what they don’t have.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it doesn’t matter how many opportunities are within arms reach, there is never enough coming in for them.
Yet, after some more probing, and more pointed questions over the next 15-20 minutes - I have found there are ALWAYS a few new opportunities on the table.
(This led me to develop a framework I have that proves there are always hot opportunities and eliminates excuses. Most people just don’t know how to categorise their leads, contacts, or clients properly - reach out if you need some help with this - it’s a quick win)
The thing to note here, that both of these ‘selves’ exist within us, they grow in direct proportion to how much they are fed.
Where we spend our attention is where we spend our life.
Ultimately, this perception creates and holds the reality.
By focusing on ‘not having enough’ - this is all we see.
We feel the next revenue target will satisfy our ego, and resolve our woes.
Truth is, it doesn’t.
There’s more depth to it than a number.
Every level-headed business owner I speak to does not have an unrealistic number they need to hit to increase profitability and invest sustainably in growth when the right math is calculated.
The thing is, when we ‘want more’ without realising what it takes to get there, we will never feel we have enough.
When we don’t understand our Lead to Sale conversion, we feel pressured to close every sale, and push too hard, or rush to discount to convert.
When we understand the stages of awareness and conversational art of sales, we know exactly what to listen for, and what to talk about - we can relax, and naturally we will convert more.
When we aren’t keeping our pipeline warm and strong, we miscategorise and we make poor, reactionary decisions.
As Timothy Gallwey states in the ‘Inner Game Of Tennis’
“Our self judgements become self fulfilling prophecies.
Repeat this often enough, and this communication becomes an expectation.
Over time, this only becomes strengthened with conviction, and we will live to these expectations.”
He believes there are two selves within us all - the ‘teller’ and the ‘doer’.
When we know how to manage this relationship, and we feed and train it constructively, we have more agency over our business, and our future.
There are seasons to business, and to life - and we need to understand when to plant the seeds, when to allow for growth, and when to harvest for maximum yield.
Strategy isn’t a twelve month plan with a list of tasks, to-do lists, and revenue targets.
Knowing things as they are is the precondition for doing things well, and this comes from a deep understanding of the market need, the key pillars of marketing and business, and creating an alignment with your Offering, and curating the right Presence across your marketing channels.
We will gravitate towards the reality we want to create, and the reality we feel we deserve.
If we truly believe in the trajectory of our business, we will rise to the occasion - no matter the market conditions.
To paraphrase Archilochus, an ancient Greek philosopher and poet;
“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations,
We fall to the level of our systems, our training, and our beliefs.”
How have you bolstered your marketing, and systems for the 20/21, and do they match the trajectory you’ve laid out?
Zac
Ps. while this conversation is a little outside the X’s and O’s of marketing strategy, I really wanted to hone in on the fact that we need to create separation from our business, and ourselves at times.
Sometimes we need to get out of our own way and diagnose the real problem.
All of my worst decisions have come from a place of fear and scarcity, when I wasn’t practicing what I preached with my own strategy.
All of my best decisions have come from a place of knowledge, understanding, and deep belief in there is always opportunity.
Yet, we can’t just rely on our mind to produce the opportunity, we need a system and a strategy to make it happen.
Positive psychology and self talk alone doesn’t ‘manifest’ into million dollar MRR’s
As mentioned, I have a Network and Opportunity Map exercise that I do with clients.
It takes some work, but I can confidently say that investing this in the time will change your perspective on what you have in the pipeline. Just reach out if you want it.
Pps. if you saw value in this, then you might like this article I wrote about the concept of Adversarial Growth