I recently discovered Alex Honnold while researching a new book project. He is a free solo climber, and in my opinion, the bravest man on the planet.
I recently discovered Alex Honnold while researching a new book project. He is a free solo climber, and in my opinion, the bravest man on the planet.
Free solo climbing is a form of free climbing where the climber forgoes ropes, harnesses and other protective gear while ascending and relies only on his or her physical strength, climbing ability, and psychological fortitude to avoid a fatal fall [wikipedia].
Watching and observing Honnold climb the sides of mountains higher than the Empire State building, you marvel. When you listen to him speak, he's just a guy next door.
Naturally, I attempted to apply some lessons from this to the dealmaking we do in sales and marketing:
He scales mountains without ropes.
I sometimes think we are too reliant on tools, apps, video, social media when we try to sell. After all, it really is just us again the mountain. It is us trying to convince a human being we can help them. We get too reliant on the tools to sell for us, instead of focusing on the pair of eyes across the table from us. The tools distract us from the most important thing we can do: listening.
He hangs from the edges of mountains without fear.
Far too often, we fear NOT getting the sale, and it shows. We are obvious that we need the sale. We appear desperate. We lower price too quickly. We need to learn how to sell without fear.
He paces himself. He tires if he moves too slow, he slips if he moves too fast.
We don't pace ourselves well in sales either. We try to close in on the close way too fast. And then sometimes we wait too long, if ever, to follow-up, and we slip. A good, steady, natural pace is what you need. And here is the key: the pace is different for EVERY sale. Set your pace based upon the difficulty of the mountain you are trying to climb.
The size of his hands are inhuman, developed from working his craft.
After years of climbing, Honnold's hand look out of place. Don't know about you, but I believe in the notion you have to practice 10,000 hours to excel at your craft, and develop skills and strengths. Most sales people don't work their craft, don't put in the time, don't learn from mistakes, don't analyze outcomes, and never fully develop their skills.
Despite hanging on a mountain thousands of feet up, he feels no adrenaline rush.
When you are pitching a deal, we often feel adrenaline. This is exciting, yes, and why many of us enjoy the thrill of closing a deal. But it makes us do stupid things, move too quickly, and make poor decisions. When working a deal, we need to be calm, focused, and inching things forward steadily, and in a normal rythmn.
Despite the risks, Honnold is doing what he loves.
If you aren't doing what you love, then that will be reflected when you are attempting to do a deal. Your prospect will know it by looking in your eye.