How much is your search for perfection costing you?

Because an 80% solution implemented right now will always beat a 100% solution implemented sometime never…

Perfection is frequently held up as an attribute that we should strive for and aspire to. Except, of course, business life is rarely like that. Well it’s not part of any business world that I’ve ever been involved with (and we get involved with quite a few). Business operates in a dynamic environment, involving people, processes, markets, competitors, and “events”, none of which are ingredients for guaranteeing perfect results.

And the point of this is? Well it’s not to open up a philosophical polemic. My point is, do not wait until you have a perfect solution to your sales problem before making a start of sorting it out. Do not spend time waiting for exactly the right moment to put into practice an improvement in your sales process.

Your research, preparation, testing and trialling, should be aimed at getting your solution into the 80% zone. Look for the evidence that “it’s good enough” and get started.

When you start the process of implementing a series of small improvements, you also educate your staff to expect change. If your staff are hesitant (make that resistant) to change, then starting them off with some small “quick wins”, can get them started. Launching a “perfect” solution in an environment that has no experience of executing new processes can be recipe for failure.

Do you have planned improvements to your sales process that are “good enough” to go? If you have, what are you waiting for? Waiting for the perfect moment could be costing you more than you realise.