A salesman is assigned a new route that takes him into Texas for the
first time. After reaching his first stop in Texas, it was late so he
checked into a motel and went to its restaurant for dinner. He ordered a
small beer. The waitress brought him a huge mug.
"Waitress" he said, "I ordered a small beer." She responded, "This
is Texas. In Texas this is a small beer." Then he ordered a petite
steak and the waitress brought him a two inch thick steak so big the
sides of it were hanging off the edge of the platter!
"Waitress, I ordered a petite steak."
She told him that in Texas that was a petite steak . After awhile
all that 'small' beer was getting to him, so he asked the waitress where
the rest room was. She told him to go down to the hall two doors and
turn to the 'RIGHT'. The salesman staggered down the hall two doors,
turned 'LEFT', and walked into the hotel swimming pool. As he bobbed
to the surface, he screamed, "DON'T FLUSH!"
Moral of the story. When you get a new sales territory, for the
first quarter or two it can seem like your drowning. The trick is
first, sit down and write up a business plan, a plan of attack, a "MAP"
to success if you will. Then simply work your plan. Without a plan
it's easy to get sidetracked and into stuff way over your head.
"A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique." - Michael Porter
