Prospecting is About Throwing, Not Catching

This piece in “Poke the Box” by Seth Godin caught my attention and reminded me of all of us getting better at prospecting.

“That’s why it’s so difficult to learn how to juggle.  We’re conditioned to make the catch, to hurdle whatever is in our way, to- no matter what  - not drop the ball.  (This tends to keep us in total react mode!)

If you spend your time and energy and focus on catching, it’s inevitable that your throws (Your prospecting!) will suffer.  You’ll get plenty of positive feedback for the catches you make, but you’ll always be behind, because the throws you manage to make will be even less useful.

Paradoxically, if you get better at throwing, the catches take care of themselves.

The only way to get better at throwing, though, is to throw.  Throw poorly, throw again.  Throw well, throw again.  Get good at throwing (prospecting!) first.

Let’s make sure you’re all prospecting and when you’re new you stop every 3-5 calls to get some coaching, review exactly what was said on both ends, etc..