Your Magic Of Averages

The annual policy reboot that is UK Party Conference season ends with the incumbent PM setting out his agenda for all things non-pandemic.

He was widely praised for using the phrase of his perhaps most illustrious predecessor; the magic of averages.

Here’s one former government economics adviser’s description [registration req’d];

“It’s well known that Boris Johnson has a high regard for Winston Churchill, and one of his great contributions was to get social insurance going. He used the great phrase about the ‘magic of averages’ in 1911 and again during the war in 1943, and what it means is that risk pooling is a great thing.”

Risk pooling is indeed a great Sales thing when applied to our funnel.

You can never have too much on the go there.

That’s the wisdom of the experienced.

Not because of the old adage, ‘if you want something done, give it to a busy person’.

But rather, to put your eggs in one basket is often selling suicide.

The fear of spreading yourself too thinly always countered by the true pro with ironclad qualification.

From my off in the trade, I was often more the disappointed when winning a deal.

I’d had that tingling in my waters about it for a while, anyway.

But losing a prospect was a blow.

One less line on the forecast.

I learnt quickly to prime the pump.

On occasion down the years, I have conducted pipeline analyses.

Usually (though not exclusively, thankfully), the real total value divided by the current close rates gave unhappy reading.

And don’t fall into the standard trap of blaming Marketing.

It’s easy to do, yet lead gen is only one part of the equation.

One you cannot always control.

And you often need not only manically robust data to enforce any change but a raft of unlikely other variables to go your way that an abundance of fresh leads is far from immediate.

Once you separate the hopper from the funnel mouth, it’s all down to you.

Adopt the mindset that you are constantly trying to qualify out – the biggest waste of any salesperson’s time is coming second – coupled with (no eye rolls, please) your own opportunity hunting effort. You can make that extra call each day.

Then you too can unleash the magic of averages which precedes the magic of smashing your target.