A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Vernon Promotions National Sales Meeting just down the road from me in Memphis, TN. It was a great time surrounded by even better people – but that’s not what this blog is about. Rather, this blog is about conversation and a snow blade.
After I was finished sharing the value of removing friction from the sales process to create long-term loyalty to the group, I was invited to join a small faction for dinner on Beale Street. Not being one to shy away from a free meal – especially when said free meal is barbecue – I eagerly accepted. At first, the dinner conversation covered the usual topics one discusses at these types of things: everyone’s industry journey, what to order off the menu, and the location of the after-dinner rally point.
After the initial banter and repartee, people started huddling into small groups of two or three with the folks sitting immediately around them. As the restaurant was loud – and my hearing is a bit off after many years of listening to Van Halen at top volume – I found this turn of events to be most welcoming.
I ended up sitting next to, and speaking with, Dustin Wicks who is the Director of Business Development for Vernon. He also happens to be a friend as he used to live near me in Tennessee before moving up to Iowa last year. We had been talking about creating content and how hard he thought it must be to continually come up with ideas. I pushed back a little by sharing that I think content is everywhere, you simply have to keep your eyes open and look for it.
We moved on and began talking about his move up north and I inquired if he had a snow blower. He told me he didn’t really think he needed one. I eagerly nodded my head in agreement and, as I pictured mounds of snow, suggested that he really required a snow blade as that would REALLY move the snow off his driveway. Yes, I like big, powerful toys like that.
After a long tug on his beer, Dustin stated clearly that he didn’t need that either as he had seen his neighbor unsuccessfully use his on several occasions. As I am wont to do, I pressed, and he explained that his neighbor never lowered the blade all the way to the concrete because he was afraid to dull the blade. Because of this, his neighbor always left just enough frozen precipitation on the ground which resulted in a quarter inch sheet of ice coating the driveway making it impossible to navigate.
I perked up and exclaimed, “there it is!”
Dustin looked at me quizzically as imaginary question marks formed over his head. I clarified, “there’s the content idea – dull the blade. Your neighbor is so focused on not getting that blade dull, the tool is completely ineffective. How many of us in our own businesses don’t use our own tools for fear that they will be dull when we really need them?” At this point, I was on a roll, so Dustin had little choice but to munch on tater tots and sip on his beer while I continued to make my point.
Every single person has tools that are deliberately held back until the, “perfect time.” Whether it’s taking a risk to land that huge prospect, proactively pushing your client because you know they are capable of more than average, or executing a content marketing strategy to make your business relevant by leveraging the chief currency of the internet, there is no perfect time – there’s only now or never. Holding back a tool for the non-existent “perfect time” is a useless strategy for growing a business.
Much like scraping a metal blade on the ground will result in temporary dullness, implementing any aggressive strategy to grow a business will result in mistakes being made. However, if you never use the available tools, you’ll never realize your full potential. Take the bold leap today: launch that podcast, push your client to not settle for mediocre marketing, and proactively go after that whale of a prospect. Remember, the blade can be sharpened to enhance its operation after becoming dull from use just like any mistakes made can be learned from resulting in improved business performance.
While Dustin’s neighbor may be accomplishing a good bit of snow removal, he’s never used the blade to its full capability. By not dulling his blade by dropping it firmly against his driveway, he will always leave just enough snow on the ground to form an undrivable sheet of ice the next day. Growing your business is no different: if you don’t make bold efforts to expand, you will always leave copious amounts of frozen potential sales on the driveway of prosperity making it incredibly difficult to navigate.
After I was finished, Dustin arched his brow and gave me positive feedback in the form of a smile and a nod because he understood: If you don’t intentionally dull your blade by using it, you’ll never know what you can truly accomplish.
When was the last time you dulled your blade?
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, immediate past president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), vice president of the Regional Association Council (RAC) board, and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, and developing branding that resonates with a target audience. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.