Your Deals Prepared For Mountaineering Objective Danger?

All those poor Nepalese Ice Doctors. Sherpas as they were once known. Everest claimed its most climbers in one swoop just before Easter. At least a dozen lost. Local men who build and keep routes safe for the good weather ascent window of late April early May.

As the tragedy was discussed across global media, I heard fascinating insight into risk assessment. Here’s Wikipedia;

“Dangers in mountaineering are sometimes divided into two categories:

objective hazards that exist without regard to the climber’s presence, like rockfall, avalanches or inclement weather, and subjective hazards that relate only to factors introduced by the climber.

Equipment failure and falls due to inattention, fatigue or inadequate technique are examples of subjective hazards.

A route continually swept by avalanches and storms is said to have a high level of objective danger.”

Apparently, when you enter the notorious Popcorn Field – where this occurred around the Khumbu Ice Fall – you’re in one of the most hostile places on the planet. Notorious for its objective danger.

This made me think about how we traverse our territory. Not quite in the manner of isolate the lowest hanging fruit. But still, it’s an idea to ensure you operate where you’re most likely to avoid objective dangers. If there’s a specific competitor that, for now, gives you the runaround, then isn’t it better to expend energy where they’re not? If you hardly ever win when forced to deal with Purchasing, then don’t. If you always fail to sell a sparkling new Merc where there’s a parking lot full of clapped out bangers, then drive past such, for now.

You only have finite hours in the day. Only so many deals can be pursued at any one time. Don’t waste your precious efforts where victory is likely to prove elusive. Spend that time seeking out deals that closer fit your ideal customer profile.

And similarly with when on a particular deal. If going in at a certain trigger, level of their organisation, or engaging with a specific issue causes problems, then either do everything you can to avoid them, or if they confront you, climb down. Pursue those bids more snug a fit for your preferred deal shape.

In either case, recognise a type of objective danger that may exist and you can create a more effective pipeline by avoiding it.

As a footnote, if I were managing a salesteam right now, I’d hold a cheeky workshop hour on this at our next monthly meeting. What are ‘objective dangers’ in the Himalayas of our patch? When have they flattened us? How do we normally react to them? How did we ever fend them off? How can we go around them and miss their risk altogether?