When I started my first sales job, over 20 years ago, my boss gave me a piece of sales and marketing advice that has helped me generate millions of pounds worth of sales – and I am going to share it with you right now!
“To make it in sales, fish for whales!”
I asked my former boss what his comment about fishing for whales actually meant. He explained:
“Jim, if you go fishing and you catch 10 goldfish, you won’t even fill a cup – but if you catch 10 whales, you will fill half the beach!”
Sales leverage
With that simple explanation, he taught me how the amount of time and effort required to win a £50,000 sale, was not a great deal more than it took to win a sale of £5,000. This simple idea totally blew my mind! It was my introduction to what I know today as leverage.
I immediately realised that if I wanted to succeed in sales, I needed to prioritise my sales efforts and focus on where I could deliver most value as a salesperson – because that’s where all those whales are!
If you want to dramatically improve your sales figures, make sure your time and energy is invested wisely – fishing for whales and not goldfish!
thanks for passing on this info.
i heard someone on the aprentice uk one
it sounded very irritating and insincere but it could work
- showing your teeth will make you sales – so smile and show yr teeth – or was it – your smile will make you sales so show your teeth!
it rymed but these two don’t maybe you’ve heard it
hopless! memory like a sive – when ever i’m dealing with a non smiler i must say it’s off putting but to have an insincere smiler is worse!
cheers
Hello Hoh,
Glad you found the post useful. I’m not sure I know the saying you were referring to (and I never watch reality TV shows.)
All the very best,
Jim Connolly
[...] to success, our grandparents would have been millionaires! Progress only comes when we work hard doing the right things! However, if we keep rowing that boat in the wrong direction, no matter how hard we row; we will [...]
Well this is unfair – this page appears above our entire Marketing Quotes website on Microsoft’s new Bing search…
You’ll just have to post about us to make things fair again.