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Alan’s thought for the day
Posted by Colin Wilson
In 
Feb 09
It was time I introduced you all to Alan Walmsley… an intrepid friend and colleague who has many years of experience in the field of selling software solutions with implementation services. His courageous and boldness comes from his ability to interpret any situation and find the funny side… which I’m sure he would have hoped a prospective customer of his would have had a few years ago… ability to see the funny side.
I can’t remember the year, but it would have been early 1990s when Alan attended a sales call to a brewery in Ireland. As is the tradition with many breweries if you are selling software to help their production process then you would invariably conduct a tour of the brewery and as tradition further dictates end up in the brewery pub to sample the produce… so when the proposal is submitted one can speak from experience in terms of the importance of maintaining quality… one did not want to upset the customer and so one had to partake in the tradition.
Brewery… Ireland… I’m sure most people would now be thinking of Guinness… certainly in the UK, more than likely also in the USA and if their marketing is good as it seems then I’m sure many people in other locations around the world would also be thinking of Guinness… and this is exactly what Alan was thinking when he was standing at the bar at the end of the tour and was asked what he wanted to drink… “I’ll have a Guinness” he replied with a simile of excited expectation… unfortunately he had not just completed a tour of the Guinness brewery, but of the Beamish brewery… the local Guinness rival. At times like these one has to turn to the French language to explain the situation… Alan had a ‘faux pas’ moment… or more crudely put… a gaffe, blunder, indiscretion, clanger, boob or howler. Unfortunately I don’t think the Beamish boys saw the funny side of Alan’s faux pas as the deal did not progress any further… unlike Alan who has progressed well over the years.
Anyhow, enough of the introduction… I was with Alan yesterday and he believes he has a great analogy to explain the reasoning behind reps chasing large deals they don’t close… he asked…
“Why do some sales reps chase large deals that they have no hope of closing?”… having asked what seemed to be a rhetorical question with an inquisitive look he answers… “Why do dogs chase cars they have no hope of driving?”… and without giving too much time for thought he answers… “because they are stupid!”
That’s it… that’s Alan’s thought for the day… stop chasing large deals you have no hope of winning unless you want to be likened to a dog chasing a car.
