Lessons From a Clownfish (and a Blue Tang)

“Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.” -Dory

An age old proverb. Advice for a hard day at work, a rough patch in a relationship, or when your son gets abducted by scuba divers and taken to a crazy teenager in Australia. We’ve all been there, we’ve all had those days, but sometimes we forget how to keep going. We forget to just keep swimming.

It’s something I see all the time in sales. Someone has a difficult client, a big opportunity is on the line, and with their back to the wall, they find a reason to walk away. The client wasn’t interested. I am wasting my time. The ocean is too big to navigate and I’m just a clownfish.

The problem is if you follow those thoughts, you’ll end up closing less sales, be less productive, and be less successful in what you do. I’ve never met someone who told me, “I really want to be mediocre at my job.” It’s human nature to desire results and success, the issue is we don’t know what to do when we hit a roadblock to that success

When I face a roadblock at work, an obstacle to my goal, I think of two things. The first is my grandfather who grew up in El Salvador. His parents were gone by the time he was eight and he had to provide for his siblings in an area that was more dangerous than a shark who just relapsed. Fish are friends not food.?

By thirteen he was denied a day cleaning job because he couldn’t afford shoes (customers would be offended by his feet). Instead, they offered him a night shift where he could be locked in from close to open all night. He accepted in an instant. He knew he had to keep swimming and take every opportunity he could to keep his siblings safe.

The second thing I think of is from my own life. My son loves the pool. He especially loves playing games at the pool, specifically Alcatraz (think sharks and minnows but sneakier and only one shark). I work long hours and I am often exhausted when I’m at the pool. I want to sit on a chair. Then lay down on the chair. Then nap on the chair.

Instead, I join, I play, I just keep swimming. I know times like these are limited. There will come a day when he is too old, too busy, or too cool to play pool games with his dad. I get in that pool and play because I know chances like these won’t always be here.

These are the two things I think about when a deal is going badly and a meeting for it is coming up. These moments separate a beginner in sales and the expert. I think about my grandpa and I realize the tough questions aren’t so tough to ask. I realize a little discomfort asking a bold question is nothing compared to nights locked in a building away from what family I have left. I use this to anchor myself to get the information I need. I can overcome that battle and win more sales.

When I get hesitation or a no or when I feel my energy waning, I think of my son. I think how these deals don’t stay forever, and the more I am able to keep at, the more I close. I may want to find an easier sale, I may want to give up the hard ones, but if I keep at the tough ones, suddenly they all become easier. Knowing how to pursue and close the hard sales is what separates a top producer from the rest.

The proverb is simple, just keep swimming. Putting it into action is the difference between sinking or floating. So don’t just take my experiences for your own. Find a thought or two that will be your engine, something to help you keep going when the water is dark, the fish are scary, and every bit of you wants to turn back and not ask the hard questions. What can anchor you to enjoy discomfort? To keep going when you’re tired? These are the first two questions someone who wants to be an expert in sales needs to answer to reach their next level. You and Nemo will be glad you did.