Is your first response to say “NO – not ME! I have freedom
to fly where I want, when I want and to hunt as I want!”
But do you? I say most sale professionals are untethered and
suffer for it in their performance --
and most importantly in lost potential -- as a result.
Consider the reasons why the hawk is tethered in the first
place. A tethered hawk was not raised in the wild. The majority are raised from
birth to have an intimate relationship with their falconer. Without the tether,
the bird will fly too far away without knowing how to return. One would think
they can, but the domesticated hawk does not know how to survive long term in
the wild.
Immerse yourself into being the hawk on the hunt for a
moment. Transfixed by the desire and need to hunt, his keen senses are easily
lured and thus distracted beyond all else. He is driven to follow instinct, hunt
the prey, seek and search…travel in any direction where the hunt-lust will
drive him.
Thus, the tether serves as a physical compass back from the rapture
of the hunt, when chase might give way to miles and miles of distance in
unknown territory from which the bird can’t return.
Over time, it is possible the hawk will learn to return on
its own, and then the tether can be replaced by a whistle. This becomes the
anchor to return to the safety and structure of life with the falconer.
Consider the tether represents discipline in sales behaviors. Without it, we leave each day
intending to hunt…but a myriad of impulses, distractions, emotional slams can
drive us off course…and do.
Of course we didn’t grow up in the ‘wild’ either. We have
been domesticated – like it or not. We have infrastructure and metrics
associated with our sales (hunting). We have to report (return) any way we look
at it.
Anytime we do not entertain process, system, discipline,
application of metrics and data – we go for a period of time untethered -- and thus shackled my our own stubbornness.
This is not true freedom. How can we produce value for our business and family
when we to hunt at a never-ending pace?
To create value for our clients and companies, and to truly serve, we must work
our playbooks with a discipline that creates the ‘hawk’ mind for ‘flights’ –
where the prey, the strategy and the desired outcome are all planned with an
expectation of result.
Envision in your mind the moment your claws grab the prey
(the “close”) and then your soar home to be celebrated by your handler (team)…
I for one will celebrate being the Tethered Sales Hawk…I’m working on hearing that whistle now.
Thank you for the great ideas @servant leadership and @sales Overdrive
