Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

Chapter 4. Stop Hunting, Start Farming

Do you find yourself constantly hunting for leads and shaking the bushes for new prospects? If you do, maybe you need to change the way you do business. Trade in your rifle and bow for a tiller and a hoe. By transforming yourself from hunter into farmer, you change your entire lifestyle. Instead of suffering through feast or famine, you establish a steadier flow of referral business that can keep you well fed throughout the year.

The transition can be a quite a challenge, particular if you have had the hunter's mindset drilled into you from the beginning of your career. The easiest way to conceptualize your new role is to think of yourself less as a salesperson and more as a friend to your clients. In other words, stop selling and start nurturing relationships.

The concept of cultivating business rather than constantly hunting for it is intended to break any habit you may have of just waiting behind your desk for customers to come to you. To become a superstar salesperson, you need to be proactive. Dentists, stockbrokers, auto dealers, insurance agents, home-based cosmetics sales-people, computer retailers, in fact, any salespeople I can think of can benefit from a more systematic approach toward cultivating their farms—that is, their marketplaces.

Business consultant and visionary Terry Brock refers to this as R-commerce (relationship commerce). Instead of focusing your mind and energy on the quantitative aspects of selling, such as gross ...