It might be fun to try navigating and escaping a maze during your leisure time.
Most people don’t feel the same when navigating the sales maze.
The funny thing is many of the same principals may just apply. Trémaux’s algorithm is the math to help you escape. Don’t worry – this isn’t about math.
It’s about:
- Perseverance
- Process
- Consistency
If you want to watch a 45 second video on how to escape a complex maze using Trémaux’s algorithm, it might be easier to understand what I’m going to be talking about… but it’s certainly not required!
The idea is to try each path and keep track of what doesn’t work – then move on to the next, repeating until you find your way out.
Perseverance
Merriam Webster defines perseverance as continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.
Sound like your sales environment today? Feels like mine.
As a sales professional you know you have to stay the course – put in the continued effort. The key is to banish self-doubt (yes that was much easier to type than it is to do) and carry on with the behaviors/activities you know make you successful.
Inside sales has always been virtual – you’ve got an advantage already!
Carry on.
Process
One of the things that’s important to remember about Trémaux’s algorithm, although its guaranteed to work for all mazes that have passages that don’t shift, it is not guaranteed to find the shortest route.
In today’s uncertain environment it may feel like the walls of the sales maze you are in keep shifting, with passages closing off that were open before.
I believe that it is timeframes – not the process – that are shifting with decisions either being made in a *snap* or
s t r e t c h i n g out.
It may also feel like what used to work, isn’t any longer.
I’m convinced it’s NOT the sales process itself that needs to change – instead salespeople need to recognize that how prospects and customers buy has changed.
- More layers of approval… or none if the purchase has an emergency feel.
- Additional people who want more information.
- New people who don’t yet understand “how this works” asking lots of questions.
- Other decision-making criteria popping up.
These extra buying steps and consideration points means YOU must ask more questions. Especially for customers where you assume you know how things work.
Follow the steps.
Consistency
I sat and tried to decide how many people I’d lose right here… right now… if I used the word discipline.
Going back to Discipline Merriam Webster, the first definition of discipline is: a region of activity, knowledge, or influence.
That shouldn’t scare you – in fact I’d hope it’s a comfort to stick with a region you’re already knowledgeable in and have influence!
Combine discipline with consistency and I believe you end up with being persistent in your approach to prospects and customers. Pleasantly persistent I hope.
Keep on, keeping on.
All my best,
Lynn
ps: if you would like help navigating your maze, drop me a note and let’s explore how your specific buyers have shifted their process.
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