Open Forum:
You rely on referral sources. Note I said “rely on.” Building a network of referral sources and having them recommend you to their friends and family, these are always good things. But relying on them is a big mistake. That’s because you pass control of your own destiny on to others, who may or may not act on your behalf. There’s too much at stake for you to risk the “may not.”
In business we all get to the point where we’re going after a huge deal, an important customer or client, putting ourselves in competition mode, and end up feeling like we should never stop until we have beat that deal, customer, or client into submission. Many of us make one of the following three mistakes when going after any sort of deal.
- We ask for the business from the person or company. This makes you sound like a beggar, someone who is desperate and needs that sale in order to survive, and most people will not do business with someone who seems desperate.
- We set annual sales goals for ourselves, our team, and our company overall. This sounds like a good practice, but when you dig a little deeper you will find it’s actually destructing to your company and team. You put a cap on the sales figures you could reach for, as well as put a great deal of stress and pressure on yourself, your team, and your company trying to reach the goal you set. You begin going to extreme lengths to get closer to your goal as the year goes by.