When I was working in outside sales for Dad, I worked hard to prove myself as a productive employee. I didn’t want anyone to think of me as a family freeloader. My brothers and I all had to go through that.
One month I had done exceptionally well and broken all my previous sales records. I went to Dad to tell him the news. He was very excited with me and then almost in a 180° turnaround, said: “Fantastic! Now, what are you going to do this month?” I was astounded! Here I had come to him with the greatest sales record of my “career” and he had “fluffed” it off and asked about this month! I was almost mad!
Dad noticed my attitude and went on with his explanation. He reminded me of the analogy that he taught me when I first got started in sales. It’s called the Sausage Mill Theory. A sausage mill is a grinder that makes sausage. It has a large hopper that you fill with the meat and spices, then the ingredients are pushed down the “throat” of the mill into a corkscrew that forces it through a plate filled with small holes. A rotating blade cuts the sausage as it passes through the holes.
The idea is, that in order to get the sausage out of the mill, you must first fill the hopper. Once you have done that, it often takes a while before anything comes out. If you stop putting in the meat and spices, there will be a time later when no sausage comes out for a while. It is a continuous process.
Successful sales must include the same process with the “meat” of sales, prospecting and proposals. You must continuously work with clients and potential customers in order to keep the mill full. As long as you keep putting potential sales into the hopper, sales will continue to be produced. Stop working and somewhere down the road, you will stop closing sales for a while.
Even after closing your best month ever, you cannot rest on your laurels. You must continue to produce. Doing well is great. It is a time of celebration. Just be sure you don’t let your celebration time interfere with your production time.
Sales, relationships and even living life are all continuous processes. When things are going well, we have a tendency to sit back and relax. That’s the time we should keep going, though, taking advantage of the momentum we have.
Continuous productivity is the key. No matter what we do for a living, whether we have to make commissions to pay our way, or are on a salary, we are responsible for being productive. When we stop being productive, even for a while, things will slow down somewhere down the road. It is not evident at first, but later, you pay for it.
Keep on keeping on. Never give up. Always persevere. It has been said many times, in many ways, but the story is the same. Don’t stop the sausage mill.
