| Are you stuck in the mud? That is, do aspects | | | | wrenching, no profanities or disgust. Just |
| of your business development efforts seem to | | | | gentle lifting. |
| be moving along at a painfully slow pace? | | | | |
| Well you're definitely not alone. Building | | | | While he was lifting he told me about a time |
| and sustaining effective business development | | | | when he was a young man. He came across a boy |
| processes takes time and patience. Here's an | | | | who had driven his motorcycle off the road |
| example of what I mean. | | | | and into a muddy slough. The boy's rather |
| | | | angry father arrived with a tractor and |
| When I was attending Concordia College in | | | | proceeded to hook a metal chain to the |
| Moorhead, Minnesota, I worked part time for | | | | motorcycle. When the father started to pull |
| Dr. Earl Scholz, a professor of horticulture | | | | the motorcycle, the chain immediately broke. |
| who taught at North Dakota State University | | | | This process was repeated a few more times |
| (NDSU - Go Bison!). One day while working at | | | | until Earl arrived with his horse. He |
| his family's berry farm just west of town, he | | | | proceeded to tie a small rope to the |
| noticed me struggling to pull a fence post | | | | motorcycle and tethered it to the horn of the |
| from the mud. | | | | horse's saddle. The horse pulled gently, and |
| | | | consistently. The motorcycle began to move. |
| The snow had recently melted and we were | | | | Within a short time, the motorcycle was |
| removing temporary fencing that was used as a | | | | retrieved from the mud. |
| snow fence. It's desirable for strawberries | | | | |
| to be sufficiently covered with snow because | | | | As Earl finished the story, he handed me the |
| it is important that strawberries stay as | | | | fence post. This turned out to be a simple |
| cool as possible late into the spring so that | | | | yet revealing life lesson for me. When stuck |
| they don't bloom too early. The risk of | | | | in the mud, pulling hard on things will get |
| future cool weather after they begin to bloom | | | | you nowhere. The mud is neither your friend |
| can ultimately stunt the growth of the plant | | | | nor your foe, but you must recognize the |
| and reduce the strawberry yield. At any rate, | | | | nature of the mud and work within its |
| the melted snow had turned the farm fields in | | | | boundaries. Pull gently and consistently; |
| to thick, gooey mud fields. | | | | don't fight the mud. This may be counter |
| | | | intuitive at first glance. |
| As Earl watched me twisting and wrenching the | | | | |
| fence post, he calmly strode next to me and | | | | Your business development efforts will see a |
| said, "Let me take a crack at it, OK?" | | | | lift over time by gently and consistently |
| | | | pulling on whatever may be stuck. How are you |
| Earl was 40+ years my senior and built no | | | | marketing yourself and your services? Are you |
| heftier than I (we probably both weighed in | | | | speaking, writing, networking, or advertising |
| at about 160 pounds with sopping wet clothes | | | | gently and consistently? Or are you pulling |
| on). He grabbed the top of the fence post and | | | | hard and wearing yourself out while at the |
| started to gently lift. No tugging, no | | | | same time burning through too much money? |