Sales and lead generation will make or break a business. Yet we get so distracted that we forget the most important task. Sowing! Do you know the story?
The Sower is a simple parable that I like to use whenever I think about marketing and sales. It’s the perfect story to illustrate what it takes to win in business. I caught onto this early when I started my first company and is has been my secret ever since.
The story of sowing and reaping actually comes from the Bible. Jesus taught in parables and presented this great story to the multitude. Originally, this was used for preaching the gospel, but Jim Rohn a big mentor of mine applied this great story to business and marketing.
Jim died a little bit ago, but I love to use his ideas when speaking. Since he is now dead I have adopted it as my own and want to make sure the message continues on.
The Parable Of The Sower
Firstly, the sower was ambitious. When you read the whole story you’ll conclude yes, this was an ambitious sower.
Here was number two. He had excellent seed. The sower who sowed the seed had excellent seed. The excellent seed could be an excellent opportunity, an excellent product, an excellent story.
Without ambition you will quit and without a good product, service, or opportunity you will not succeed either.
Mini Lesson 1
Don’t sell crap! I can’t tell you how many times I see people selling a terrible product or service. It’s pretty hard to get any momentum if your seed is no good. Evaluate your product and make sure it is as good as it can be.
Mini Lesson 2
Ambition and hard work are required.
Sales and Marketing take a lot of work. It takes ambition and determination to see things through. Whether you are an owner or a simple employee. Results take a lot of effort. Once the seed is planted and the lead it captured you then have to nurture that lead into a qualified customer.
You will be tested and tried to see if you are worthy of an entrepreneur lifestyle. Don’t quit or leave the field, just keep sowing.
The Story
“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured them. And some fell upon stony places; and as soon as it was sprung up, they were scorched because of no root. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold”
The Lesson (Jim Rohn)
“The sower goes out to sow the seed, but the first part of the seed falls by the wayside and the birds get it.
So jot this down. The birds are going to get some of the seed.
Now you say, “Mr. Rohn, what does that mean?” Well, I invited John to come to a meeting. He said he’d be there Tuesday night. Tuesday night I show up. John isn’t there. I say, “I wonder why John didn’t make it.”
Now I know the answer. The birds! The birds! John had this great idea of coming to the meeting to look at an opportunity, and somebody stole it and said, “You’re not going to go see network marketing.” And he says, “Well, maybe not.” So have you jotted that down now? The birds are going to get some of the seeds.
Now when the birds get some, you’ve got two options. Number one is to chase birds. You say, “Well, let me get hold of the person who talked him out of coming to the meeting. I’ll tear him a new page.” I wouldn’t do this. Here’s what happens if you go chasing birds. You leave the field. If you go chasing birds now, you stop sowing. This is going to detract from your future, not add.
So you can’t chase birds and try to straighten this stuff out. Here’s what it is. It’s just one of those things, and here’s the best comment when things are a little disappointing. “Isn’t that interesting?” You just have to say, “I thought sure he would be there. He promised me! But I know it was the birds.” And you just have to say, “Isn’t that interesting?”
Now here’s the rest of the story.
The sower kept on sowing. See, that was the secret to his success. He kept on sowing. And if you keep sowing, you can sow more than the birds can get because there aren’t enough birds. If you keep sowing, there are always some birds but there’s not enough, because the Law of Averages will work for you.
The sower now keeps sowing the seed.
Now the seed falls, the story says, on rocky ground where the soil is shallow. And the rocky ground where the soil is shallow.
This time, the little seed that falls in the ground starts to grow and the little plant starts to grow. But the first hot day, it withers and dies. Not an easy thing to watch. I finally get John started. Sure enough, three or four days later somebody says “Boo!” and he’s gone–doesn’t show up at the second meeting. And I say, “I thought sure John would last a week.” What happened?
Jot this down.
The hot weather is going to get some.
And this is not of your making.
Here ́s what you must say when that happens. “Isn’t that interesting?” What can you do? The answer is nothing. You say, “Well, I’m going to try to change this!” I wouldn’t take that class. You know, the sun comes up in the east and somebody says, “Why is that?” I wouldn’t spend much time on that. Just let that happen. Don’t go for this why, why, why stuff. I’m giving you the answers here. The answer is in the structure and in the consequences and is in the deal.
The answer is in the deal.
Anything beyond that is not worth studying. You say, “Well, how come some just last a little while?” I wouldn’t sign up for that class either. Here’s the answer: Some don’t stay. You just have to jot that down. And when some leave you say, “That’s one of those who don’t stay.”
Now, you know what category to put them in, and you can’t solve this now. It’s like rearranging the seasons. You can’t fool with that. All you can do is cooperate with the way things are set up. I didn’t set it up. You say, “Well, it shouldn’t be this way.” Well, when you get your own planet you can rearrange this whole deal, but on this planet you ́re a guest.
You’ve got to take it as it comes. Now, here is the secret to the ambitious sower with good seed.
It said he kept on sowing.
Here’s what he had to do to keep on sowing. He had to discipline his disappointment. This is a key phrase now to use for the rest of your life. You must learn to discipline your disappointment. Because you didn’t set up the set up, and some are not going to stay, and that is not of your making.
Now, if you made gross errors and you ran them off, see that’d be different. You’re responsible for that. But if it’s in the normal course of things … this is just the way things are. Here’s what it says. The sower keeps on sowing.
Now it says the seed falls on thorny ground. And somebody says, “Well, how much of this do you have to go through?” Well, hang on. It’s not the end of the story. The little seed falls on thorny ground and the little plant starts to grow again, but as the little plant starts to grow, the thorns choke it to death and it dies. So jot this down. The thorns are going to get some. And that’s not of your making. And what are these thorns?
The story even called these little thorns little cares, little distractions, little somethings.
Who knows what they all are. I said, “John, we had a meeting last night. You weren’t here.” And John says, “Well, I can’t make every meeting.” I say, “Why not? You’re part-time.” He said, “Well, the screen door came off the hinges and you can’t just let your house fall apart. You’ve got to take some time and fix things up.”
And I can hear the thorns growing.
He said, “Some extra trash had piled up in the garage. You can’t let mountains of trash take over. You’ve got to keep your trash hauled out.” People let little things cheat them out of big opportunities, and you feel almost helpless. What could I do about that? And the answer is nothing. And you say, “Well, why is this?” I’m asking you not to sign up for that class. Don’t sign up for these, “Why is this?” classes. It’s just the way it is – like winter following fall and spring following winter.
So have you got that?
The thorns are going to get some.
Now here’s the good news. The sower now keeps on sowing the seed. Keeps on sharing the story. Keeps on giving an invitation. Yes the invitation can be more powerful for me now as it is one year later than it was the first month, because now I’m saying I’m making twice as much money part time as I’m making on my fulltime job. The story can be more powerful, but the Law of Averages is still going to work.
Now here ́s what the story says. Finally the seed falls on good ground. Now put this in parentheses.
It always will, if you keep sowing.
If you share a good idea long enough, it will fall on good people. So here’s the rest of that story. Some of the good ground did 30%. And some of the good ground did 60%. And some of the good ground did 100%. You say, “Well, why the difference in numbers?” I wouldn’t sign up for that class!
Have I said that often enough now? Don’t register for that class. It’s just the way it is. I tried to get the 30 ́s to do 60. Found out it was more than I could handle. I used to say, “I’ll make them successful if it kills me.” I almost died. No, you can’t do that. Here’s what you do. Let the 30’s do 30 to the best of their ability, because that’s how they build their lifestyle and get what they want out of life. And let the 60’s do 60. And let the 100’s do 100.
