Selling is a mixture of craft and graft. For a proper formula I would suggest two parts craft and one part graft. Graft by definition is the joining of two plants to make one. This can only be done by uniting the two plants and encouraging them to grow together as one.
If horticulturalists left it up to nature then I’m sure we would accidentally and eventually get a plant to unite with another but it would certainly take a long time and there’s no guarantee that it would be beneficial to our fruit and vegetable production. By grafting certain fruits and vegetables with other root systems we’ve been able to increase productivity, consistency in size and ensure proper nutrients in our fruits and vegetables.
Grafting in sales is the merging of un-aligned thoughts and emotions into one. This must happen in the interaction between buyer and seller in order for a deal to be done.
The type of sales I’ve mostly been involved with is the more direct approach. You make that call, knock on that door, ask for that introduction or visit that business unannounced. This is not the type of sales most of us want to do but it is the type of approach that will day after day yield consistent results.
I’ve witnessed countless preventable business failures in my 30 plus years as an entrepreneur. These failures were for the most part due to the fact that the business owner stopped selling. Or refused to do what most successful entrepreneurs never stop doing and that is grafting. Pushing forward with their goals, dreams, new products, added services. They never stop pushing or motivating their teams to get inspired and push through new ideas, new markets. And sometimes that means dumping the old inventory, selling out what you’ve got so you can bring on the new.
In the case of doomed failure I would highly suggest reversing the formula to two parts graft and one part craft. The expression “Do what you gotta do!”, or “Do what needs to be done!” immediately comes to mind.
Some times you have to dig down a bit deeper into your personal reservoir to find out what your made of. Inspiring the team to do whatever it takes (within moral reason) to shift the needle and make things happen.
It starts with you. Get Mad! Get angry! Get Excited! Get Motivated! and do your best work even when you don’t feel like it. Make a concerted shift in your normal behaviour and be prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed. You’ll quickly begin to notice that your circumstances will start to shift in your favour. Often times you won’t need to use all your resources or end up fighting that insurmountable battle. Just the mere fact that you were prepared to go that far is all that’s needed to declare a new direction.
Your battle has been fought and won and you are in a better position to fight another day.
This my entrepreneurial friends is where your character lies. You have now displayed who you really are and what you’re prepared to stand up and fight for! Congratulations, You’ve WON!
The Craft is your Graft and you can now keep winning! So, Push on! Grafters! and don’t stop til you get enough!
Dominic Kotarski – Founder of Sales Success Academy if you want to know more about selling you might want to check out “The Making”