My wife Debbie and I have an 18 month old grandson, Colton. Knowing that we’ll soon be watching animated movies with him, we’ve been catching up on them every chance we get. Not having watched them much in the last twenty years or so, I’m amazed at how many there are—and how good some of them are.
In Finding Nemo, as the action progresses toward Sydney Harbor, we witness a large group of Seagulls fighting for food. The Seagulls know only one word which they repeat incessantly—“mine.” Their dialog is a constant stream of “Mine, mine, mine, mine,” as they try to grab and fight for whatever food there might be. And they’re not the least bit inhibited in how they go about getting it; nor are they concerned about how their actions might be impacting those around them. Their only concern is for themselves and what’s in it for them.
Do they remind you of anyone?
If you said some salespeople, you’d be right, of course.
But those aren’t the ones I’m thinking of.
Instead, I’m thinking of a group—hopefully a small group—that virtually every seller in the world knows all too well—some of their prospects, customers, and clients.
We all have them in our pipeline and in our client database. They bleed us dry with their constant cry of “mine, mine, mine,’ with unreasonable demands and never-ending attempts to get lower and still lower prices.
This small set of prospects and clients take up far more time and energy than they are worth. Yet most of us dutifully take care of them, even when we know it is to the determent of our other prospects and clients.
What should we be doing with this flock of self-centered Seagulls?
Get rid of them. Turn them loose and let them suck the blood out of your competition.
There is no rule that says you can’t get rid of prospects and clients. It’s your sales business; you can keep or get rid of anyone you like, and you must do some culling in order to maintain a healthy business.
If you have Seagulls as clients, get rid of them. If when you prospect you come across a Seagull, eliminate them from your prospecting list
We all want and need sales, but prospects and clients who only know the word “mine” aren’t going to do anything for you except ultimately cost you business and money. Shoo them away before they devour you.
Great story, Paul. I had a client that was sucking the life out of me and I tried several times to let her go (fire her so to speak) but she begged me to stick with her. . Since I had already put in a huge amount of time and she was zeroing in on a purchase for the xth time I gave her 2 more weeks in my mind….knowing her time was running out, she insisted on buying a property that I knew she wouldn’t like–but true to form, no amount of reasoning was going to talk her out of it, because then she would have lost the battle. We completed the transaction–but like any bad relationship, the complaining, the whining, the nothing is right continued….After I finished all my obligations with her and the transaction, I deleted her from my contact manager–that was the best feeling of all!
Comment by Pam Burzynski (@PamBurzynski) — June 22, 2011 @ 11:43 am |
Great story Paul, and i raise my hand as having been guilty of this in the past. It’s a hard thing for a sales person to walk away from business, but to recognize this behaviour early on–will actually get you more business-because you’ll be spending your time with right type of prospects/buyers–not “Mine Suckers”. Thanks for the remnder.
Comment by jturicik — June 22, 2011 @ 5:44 pm |
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Pingback by Get Rid of Your Seagulls Before They Devour You | InternetRSSFeeds — June 23, 2011 @ 10:41 am |
Good analogy. I always called them mooches. I also learned many years ago, give them to your competiton. Good for you to wise the younger folks.
Comment by Mike — June 23, 2011 @ 11:28 am |
Stories are so powerful when communicating be it within marketing, selling and just generally getting to know people.
Comment by Leanne HoaglandSmith — June 23, 2011 @ 12:21 pm |
Deleting clients when they treat you as an unpaid consultant is a necessity. If they cannot provide you with a clear and concise brief backed up with with a tangible budget then its’ time to move on.
We are all professionals and have a wealth of knowledge. That knowledge and level of service comes at a price that we are prepared to accept, not compromise.
Have the guts to tell a client that ” its’ over”…..
Greg Allardice
Media Futures Pty Ltd
Comment by greg@mediafutures.com.au — June 23, 2011 @ 4:46 pm |
Good reminder Paul. Unfortunatly most salespeople I know won’t let a client go nomatter how timeconsuming and unreasonable they are.
Comment by Einar — June 25, 2011 @ 7:36 am |
A really great post! Thank you!
Comment by Salesperson — July 6, 2011 @ 10:15 am |
Great post. Always enjoy metaphorical fun!
My two cents….
The “mine, mine, mine” mentality stems from an overactive ego.
I believe the best way to avoid wasted time from needy ego’s is to set ground rules for the conversation. Let the other person know that you value their time, and expect reciprocation. If they don’t reciprocate, let them know. Transparency and honesty and humanness is the key — well, along with understanding the Pareto Principle…
Comment by Glenn Friesen — July 12, 2011 @ 12:21 pm |