Sarcy Stein’s Law Applied To Your Sales

So this week I caught a press conference with American Central Bank vice-chair Stanley Fischer. His accent combined with choice of words made him sound an interesting character. Quite a lifestory.

Interest rates at zero. Growth crawling. Commodities plunging. The assembled economic hacks all gloom. He lightened the mood by quoting Herbert Stein. A renowned academic he’d worked with when younger.

“when something can’t go on forever, it stops”

I learn this is today termed Stein’s Law. Sardonic, dry wit a touch. Yet a powerful underlying theme.

For selling, it holds two parts.

What feels like it’s going on forever? How could it stop?

The ‘going on’. Your eternal prospect. An interminable competitor incumbency. The lack of sale in a certain territory, of a certain product or by a certain pitch.

The ‘stop’. Finding the real pain, threat for urgency or drive for change. A trigger other than price. Working through what your winning process looks like.

How long really is your Sales forever?