Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #9: Skimming

Duncan includes skimming, "focusing on surface profitability instead of client satisfaction [p. 159]". See: Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), pp. 159-179.

Duncan argues that to avoid this mistake, you have to move your business from relying on prospecting to reliance on partnering. He calls that moving "from solo to symphony."

On pp. 173-9, Duncan gives five rules for "transitioning your existing clients into productive partners." [p. 173]:

1. Take inventory. "Determine your current clients' value. Who are your lead players--your clients who can give you loads of their own business and lots of referral business."

2. Determine your investment level. "Once you know which clients can be lead players and which can provide consistent accompaniment to your sales business, you must then determine how much time and money you will invest in each of them in order to sustaining their business and tap their resources."

3. Cast your vision to your clients. "On an individual basis, schedule meeting with each of your clients who made the cut in the first step."

4. Orchestrate what parts they will play. "Obviously you will want your best clients playing the biggest part in helping you succeed."

5. Strike up the band.Literally. "The greatest partnership arrangement isn't going to make a bit of difference in your selling career until you put your wand in motion.

I've argued elsewhere in this blog that your business does not operate in isolation. Your business and it's context is your business. That includes competitor and collaborators. You should pay attention to this.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of gambling? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.