While rummaging through his attic, a salesman found a shoe-repair
ticket that was nine years old. Figuring that he had nothing to lose,
he went to the shop and presented the ticket to the proprietor, who
reluctantly began a search for the unclaimed shoes. After ten minutes,
the owner reappeared and handed back the ticket.
"Well," asked the salesman, "did you find my shoes?"
"Yes," replied the shop owner, "they'll be ready by Tuesday."
Moral of the story. Follow up. Every sales professional knows that without constant follow up and vigilant attention to detail, opportunities will not close on their own. Business, cards, leads from trade shows, articles on potential prospects that you've read; these all need to be entered into a CRM system with follow up tasks assigned. The last thing you want to do, is file them away in a shoe box somewhere and forget about them for nine years.
"It isn't the mountain that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe."
- Robert W. Service
"Well," asked the salesman, "did you find my shoes?"
"Yes," replied the shop owner, "they'll be ready by Tuesday."
Moral of the story. Follow up. Every sales professional knows that without constant follow up and vigilant attention to detail, opportunities will not close on their own. Business, cards, leads from trade shows, articles on potential prospects that you've read; these all need to be entered into a CRM system with follow up tasks assigned. The last thing you want to do, is file them away in a shoe box somewhere and forget about them for nine years.
"It isn't the mountain that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe."
- Robert W. Service
