Standing Under the Mistletoe

 At holiday gatherings, I like standing under the mistletoe and waiting for a kiss. This simple ritual warms everyone’s hearts and brings romance in the air.

In sales, when we search for low-hanging fruit, it can seem like standing under the mistletoe. It is passive, we get a good feeling and we spend too much time waiting. There is nothing wrong with looking to sell low-hanging fruit but the problem is that nothing in sales is always that easy.

Closing a sale requires more skill than ever before. A salesperson must work and develop the opportunity, qualify it over and over and over and carefully listen for impact of not having the solution. They must present the solution based on the needs they identified and identify a compelling event to move the sale along. They must also become a resource for their prospect, an conduit for information and a champion in helping their prospect sell the solution internally. And when the sale actually closes, it’s a combination of luck, tenacity, motivation and very hard work.