In a Sales Slump? How Watching Seinfeld Can Help

I love when people find sales inspiration in unlikely places - and business coach Tom Kelly found it in a very unlikely place - a Seinfeld episode!

I was watching an old re-run of Seinfeld the other day. The episode was called, "The Opposite". In the episode, George Costanza realizes that everything he's been doing his entire life has led to his current situation, a life of misery. So, he figures that if he does everything the opposite of what he has done in the past, he will create the opposite results. As the episode goes on, George ends up attracting a beautiful woman, a new job with the Yankees, and everything he touches turns to gold!

While the episode is pretty funny, there is something we can learn from it as sales people. Sometimes we get stuck in the routine of taking the same actions that we have always taken. Or, worse yet, we do the same things that every other sales person in our industry is doing.

Not to pick on the real estate industry, but this industry is a great example of this. Most real estate agents are a "dime a dozen" because they all follow the same steps, thus generating the same results. As a potential client, there is no difference between one agent and the next, and therefore no strong value proposition for the client.

I once asked one of my real estate broker clients how she consistently produced outstanding results with her business (she is in the top 1% nationally), and she told me that she looks at what all the other agents are doing, and does something completely different! Ah...the Costanza Principle in action! Beautiful!

So, I encourage you to take a look at your approach to selling, and if you aren't getting the results you want, consider doing something completely different, or even exactly opposite, of what you are doing now. You might find in the process that not only do you set yourself apart from the rest of your competition, but you also might find yourself with a large amount of new business!

Tom Kelly is a Profession Business Coach that specializes in working with small business owners, entrepreneurs, and salespeople. He can be reached at (773) 907-0921, or at www.potentialinmotion.com.