Wild Card, Success Mindset

The Sales Wisdom of the Elephant


Moments after entering Pilanesburg National Park, we came to a screeching halt to watch a matriarchal herd of twenty-five elephants cross the road. In the group were toddlers who barely came up to their mommy's tummy, as well as teenagers who were being chastised for unruly behavior.

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One-by-one, the elephants marched down to the lake where they drank their fill and played in the water. Next, they moved to the mud pits to wallow in the muck.

Finally, they wandered over to dry ground, where they used their trunks to coat themselves and their friends with sand. It was fun to watch!

So what can we learn about sales from the elephants?

Actually, many things. But here's one thing I learned that really jumped out at me.

Elephants are born with a set of molars - two on top and two on the bottom. When these teeth wear down, they're replaced with a new set. In fact, in an elephant's 65-year lifespan, these molars are replaced five times.

 
During the two-year period when the new teeth are coming in, it hurts like crazy. So, to help them deal with the pain, the elephants chew rocks.

When the guide shared this, it really hit home.

I've chewed rocks at least five times in my sales career.  Each time, my old sales skills were no longer sufficient to feed me anymore and I had to grow new ones.

It happened the first time I ever dealt with a volatile economy. It happened again when I moved into technology sales. Then, after cruising along with the same set of molars for 15 years, I had to grow new ones after I lost my two big clients. Today's crazy-busy prospects also forced me to grow new molars.

I'll tell you, growing these new sets of teeth is very painful - but necessary.

And that's exactly what it's like when you're learning new sales strategies. At first, you don't even know what to do - just that it's getting more and more difficult to get the business. So you just chew harder and complain about it to everyone you know. Ultimately, you realize that you need new teeth.

Unfortunately, as humans, we have to figure out what kind of molars we need and then we have to implant them ourselves. Initially, we make a mess of things. The new molars don't feel right and the old ones don't work. Finally, we adjust and start eating healthy again.

And, we hope that's it's the last set of molars we'll ever need. It never is. The elephant knows that it'll happen again. He sees it happening all the time to others in the herd. But we're blind to it. Or want to be blind to it.

If it's been a while since you've had a new set of molars, perhaps it's time you think about it. Are you chewing harder than ever before, but getting fewer results?

Is it time for you to consider getting new molars - even if it hurts? And, what will your new molars look like?

That's the sales wisdom you can learn from the elephant.

 

After a successful career in the sales world, writing five books, and speaking internationally, Jill is now tackling an even bigger challenge. She's focused on bringing the "millions in the middle" together to solve some of the biggest issues facing our country and the world. Jill truly believes so much more is possible if we can work together.