Paralyzed by Perfection

“There is no level of success for which we can wade into shore.”
Peter Block
The Answer to How is Yes

Oftentimes, when talking with a sales professional who is having difficulty selling a particular line of insurance or financial products, I hear the following to be the root of their problem; “I’m just not comfortable discussing the product with customers. Until I fully understand how the product works, I can’t sell it.”

Thus, presumably the solution to slumping sales results, or reluctance to sell at all, is the need for a complete knowledge of how the product works. With more study, more dissection of the product details, successful sales and marketing will follow according to such thinking.

“The process of achievement comes through repeated failures and the constant struggle to climb to a higher level.”
John Maxwell
Attitude 101

On its surface, the argument for more product training sounds reasonable. But in reality, the problem of not selling isn’t for lack of good product training or knowledge; instead, the problem behind not selling a product line lies in the lack of simply “doing”.

Knowledge does not precede “doing.” It is “doing” that precedes knowledge.

“Action is the real measure of intelligence.”
Napoleon Hill

John C. Maxwell, author, teacher, and expert on leadership and motivation writes of an account in his book, Attitude 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know, where an art teacher of ceramics made an interesting discovery about how people think, behave, and the outcomes they realize as a result.

Specifically, this ceramics teacher announces to his students that there will be two grading systems for the class. In dividing the class into two groups, one group of students would be graded strictly on the “quality” of the clay pot they produce for the grading period.

The other group of students would be graded strictly on the “quantity” of clay pots they produced in the grading period. A scale would be brought in; those with fifty pounds of clay pots would receive an “A,” those with forty pounds a “B,” and so on.

At the end of the grading period, a “curious fact emerged,” according to Maxwell. Those pots of the highest “quality” actually came from the group who was being graded solely on “quantity.” It seems while those who were in the “quality” group anguished and pained over every minute detail of their one pot; the “quantity” group was improving on their skills and abilities with each new clay pot they undertook.

There is No More Perfect of a Time to Do Something Than to Do It Now

Rather than immersing themselves into the details of a quality product, they immersed themselves into the work of creating and perfecting with each attempt and act to create. The result of their actions was a clay pot of superior quality.

“Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand; and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”
Napoleon Hill

The lesson for all sales professionals is this:

Don’t be paralyzed by the thought of having to be perfect right at the start as an agent, consultant, or financial adviser. Don’t use the excuse of needing more product training for a reason you don’t sell a particular product.

As the motto for a famous shoe store line states, if you want to gain skill and expertise in sales, then just do it. That is, just do the work of selling and a “quality” all its own will follow as a result from the act of doing.

Can you falter or stumble, so to speak, from being less than "perfect" in regard to product knowledge, or even less than perfect in your sales conversation? Yes; but then, how else will you become counted among those who the author, John Maxwell, called a "curious fact."

Only when a person refuses to be paralyzed with the notion that complete and flawless product knowledge is necessary in order to be able to sell well...can they actually begin to...sell...well!


Copyright © 2009 - Tony Cefalu