The Monkey's Tail

Recently, I found myself telling a disturbing story to several clients because it helped them see the actions they needed to take.

I haven’t told the story in years because it leaves a very visceral image in your mind — but I promise you — it instantly clarifies decision-making.

So here goes.

Once, there was a boy who owned a monkey. The two were inseparable. While playing together one day, the boy accidentally stepped on the monkey’s tail and broke it.?

Needless to say — the boy felt terrible and took the monkey to his father to see what could be done.

His father quickly realized the monkey was in great pain and it would only get worse.?

He told the boy that he needed to cut the tail off so the monkey could start to heal.?

Crying, the boy took his monkey away. However, after several hours of hiding in the woods, he saw how much pain the monkey was in and decided to take his father’s advice.?

Trying to be kind, the boy decided that in order to make sure that cutting the tail off didn’t hurt too much, he would cut the tail off in slices because cutting it off in small pieces should hurt less than cutting it off all at once.?

You can clearly see the flaw in the boy's logic.

But — how often do we make these same sorts of decisions in our business?

For example — why does it take us a long time to let go of a mediocre employee??

Why does it take you so long to say goodbye to a client that isn’t profitable?

Why does it take a long time to decide that this is the year you will no longer feel the misery of the “feast or famine” cycle caused by a dry sales pipeline?

Stop making decisions in slices.

Instead, just make the decision (even if it’s a difficult one) and get it done so you can start to heal as a person, a team, and as a business.

Now's the time to double down.

Onward with gusto!

P.S. would you like to learn an uncommon (but rock solid awesome!) sales closing technique that will help you share what you do with your clients and prospects without feeling like you’re pitching or trying to sell them something

Join us Wednesday at 12 noon Central for our open-mic Q&A, and we’ll show you how to apply the sales technique we call “Seeding and Opening Loops.” I promise you — it will change the game during your next sales conversation or presentation so you can move further faster and leave the feast and famine of biz dev behind. Go here for the details.