One day while out walking, a man falls down a deep, wide hole with no visible means of escape.

The sides are too smooth for him to grip on to, the coolness of early evening has started to descend – and it’s a long, long way back up to the top.

On top of that, he realises that he hurt himself during the long drop.

His whole body aches, he feels a bit shaky and weak – and he can’t work out why he feels so fatigued and tired.

And his pride’s taken a dent too. Falling down into this hole was clearly his fault and it – was – just – such – a – stupid – thing – to – do.

After about an hour, a rich businessman walks past the top of the hole – and so he calls up to him for help;

“Wait, don’t go – I’ve fallen down this hole – can you help me please?”

“Of course,” shouts down the generous, businessman – throws down some money – and then carries on along his way.

A little while later, a doctor walks past – and the man in the hole shouts out again;

“Doctor, doctor – I’ve had a nasty fall – please – do something?”

“Of course,” shouts down the doctor – who writes out a prescription, throws it down the hole – and then also carries on along his way.

Later still, a priest walks by – and the man in the hole tries again;

“Excuse me – I’m sorry to bother you but I’ve  fallen down this hole – please help?”

“Of course,” shouts down the priest – who then writes down his favourite prayer, throws it down the hole – while saying the words “have patience” and disappears into the night.

Finally just when he is about to give up, a friend walks by – and, using the last of his energy, the man in the hole jumps up and down, screaming;

“Wait – I’ve fallen down this hole – I need some help?”

“Of course,” says the friend – who then jumps down into the hole and joins him.

The man in the hole can’t believe it.

“What are you doing – why did you do that – now  we’re both in this deep, dark hole together.”

“ Maybe ,” says the friend “but I’ve been down this hole before – so I know how to show you the way out.”

When it comes to DEEP DARK SALES HOLES – seemingly impossible sales targets, pointless prospecting and the ownership of a sales pipeline that was more pipe than sale – there have been times when I was definitely stuck.

I would never advertise myself as the greatest salesperson in the world – and I certainly wouldn’t describe younger me as anything other than a lucky stumbler, especially at the beginning of my career – but it’s that history that enables me to do what I do now.

It’s the very fact that I did fall down – extremely hard and far too often – back then, that I’m now able to help others climb out of the hole – and even show some how to avoid falling down the hole altogether.

You see, it never really helps the rest of us to be told how good a specialist is at doing and being.

If they’ve never lived the problem you’re facing, then they’ve never truly felt the problem you’re living with.

And the biggest problem that many people are feeling right now, is a shortage of genuine business opportunities and a lack of understanding of how best to prospect for them so that situation can improve.

So, with that in mind,

I’ve just finished putting together a series of 12 articles regarding Sales Prospecting that includes, amongst other things;

• What it takes to build a steady sales pipeline
• Working out how many suspect and prospect leads you’ll need to hit your target
• An explanation of Trigger Events – what they are and why they’re useful
• Building a targeted prospect list
• The truth about 21st Century sales prospecting

Of course I’ll be posting them all eventually on LinkedIn and my own Blog, but if you’d like them delivered free of charge on a weekly basis, straight in to your email inbox – then just follow this link and they’ll be sent automagically to the email address of your choosing over the course of the next 12 weeks.

Feel free to share this first article so that your connections can follow the series too.

I’ve also just put the finishing touches to an intensive Half-Day Effective Prospecting Skills Workshop – the first one will be taking place in the UK in a few weeks  – if you’d like to register an interest in attending please click on this link and take a look at the content.

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My new book – Selling with EASE: The Four Step Sales Cycle Found in Every Successful Business Transaction is now available from Kindle and as a Paperback. If you’d like a preview, you can download the first 30 pages as a PDF document – completely free – by clicking right here

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Chris Murray is founder and Managing Director of Varda Kreuz Training, a company created to deliver sales, management and customer service training that really works – not in theory and not just sometimes – training that really works.

If you would like to discuss how we can help to develop your team, email us now on info@vardakreuztraining.com, give us a call on 0844 293 9777 – or follow this link to find out a little more about our courses and workshops.

If you were looking to book a training workshop for an individual rather than an in-house training course for an entire team you’ll find everything you need over at our Open Workshops Page by following this link.