GUEST COLUMN
Want to Sell More? Think like a Squirrel. CHRIS BEALL
As a salesperson and sales leader, I admire the behavior of squirrels.
This morning I witnessed yet another Cirque du Squirreleil act: On my deck, a squirrel leapt from an upside-down position onto a slick, tubular, sus- pended bird feeder hanging 10 feet over concrete. Then, in a fraction of a second, it leapt back onto the deck. This squirrel (like so many other
squirrels) had solved the problem of getting to what I had considered an unreachable feeder – and to every other bird feeder we have ever put up. According to The Journal of Wildlife Management, the Eastern Gray Squir- rel needs about 137 calories a day to survive. That is the squirrel’s quota. In their pursuit of that next cheek- pouch full of calories, squirrels do five things we, as salespeople, should emulate in business and in life. 1. Squirrels show perseverance. I can’t count the number of times I thought I’d outwitted squirrels
only to be greeted by an empty feeder or a feeder lying empty on the ground – sometimes shattered, sometimes merely disassembled. The squirrels kept trying and trying and trying and, eventually, they cracked that feeder’s code or smashed the feeder itself. And, when they fall, they get up and give it another go.
2. Squirrels work without com- plaining. Not only are squirrels dedicated enough to climb, jump, and leap without giving up, they never complain to other squirrels about how the pole is too slick or the climb too high or the leap too far. They do it like their lives depend on getting to those seeds.
3. Squirrels innovate. Once it’s clear an idea or approach is not going to work, squirrels adopt a new plan of attack. Squirrels know their first idea might not be the one that works. They try different approaches until one of them does.
4. They follow winning patterns. Once a squirrel finds a solution,
creativity is for the birds, not the squirrels. That feeder (or what’s in it) is going down, my friend. Repeatedly. Until proven otherwise. You don’t hear squir- rels whining, “This sales script doesn’t let me exercise my famous problem-solving skills.” They repeat – and they eat.
5. They copy what works. Once a squirrel solves a feeder, it’s a free-for-all. There is no pride of authorship in Squirrelville. Squirrel see, squirrel do. Simple as that.
Since the dinosaurs departed,
relentless rodents have had a pretty good run. My advice: Go nuts and think (and act) a little more like a squirrel – today and every day.
Chris Beall is CEO of ConnectAndSell. For 30 years, Chris has led software start-ups as a founder or early-stage developer. He be- lieves the most powerful part of a software system is the human being, and that the value key is to let the computer do what it does well (go fast without getting bored) in order to free up human potential. For Chris’s business insights, listen to his podcast
https://marketdominanceguys.com/.
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