In the peak of summer this year, my wife bought a fancy beach ball sprinkler for our sons to play with at home. This 88-inch sprinkler needed to be filled with air first, before connecting a water hose for water sprinkler play. So, we read the instructions, got our electric air pump and started working on the sprinkler.
Between both of us, we have five (5) college and advanced degrees, so this should not be that difficult, we thought. However, after each of us gave it a go without any apparent success, we started to wonder if we were doing the right thing. Then it struck me: we haven’t reached critical mass yet to determine if we were or not doing the right thing. After a few minutes (and lots of doubt), the big ball started to move and get bigger. Shortly after, each second of air pumped showed up in the ball – unlike the first few minutes when nothing showed up.
Of course, I thought of the application in sales – Critical mass is a concept that originated in physics and refers to the volume of a nuclear product required to sustain a chain reaction in a nuclear explosion.
In sales, critical mass refers to the point where your efforts start producing results so one doesn’t have to put out the same level of effort to get the same results. For example, you’ve mastered your script, so you no longer need to read it, but you now embody it. Or you’ve mastered the products that you don’t need a product specialist at every prospect meeting because you are comfortable answering questions and highlighting key features or benefits.
Many sales professionals get trained or coached on a new way of working or some new technique, try it out for a while and then give up because they don’t see any immediate results. The challenge here is they did not give enough time for the new habit/way of doing things to take hold. I’ve read many places that it can take between a few weeks up to a couple of months to establish a new habit. It is no different in sales!
On the flip side, some sales professionals implement a new system or tool or script and soon find success. However, without getting to critical mass, they let up or “coast” before getting to that point. The challenge with coasting too soon is the new way of doing things has not been thoroughly tested, measured and adjustments made. Therefore, chances are, it may lead to undesirable outcomes and send your results right back down to where you came from, after you worked so hard to move up.
How does one avoid either mistake to quit too soon? Goals, metrics and milestones are essential here! The exact point or moment when critical mass is achieved may be difficult to determine, however sales leaders can develop goals and metrics with visibility to direct a team’s efforts and enable them to track any progress towards critical mass.
The bottom line is this: without measuring the right thing(s) it is impossible to know if you are doing the right things and if your efforts are yielding the desired results.
How do you know when you have achieved critical mass? Are you close to achieving critical mass? Do you need to achieve critical mass? Let’s talk: info@thecommissioninternational.com.
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