Selling Smart Like a Bunny

Knowing When to Walk Away

Subject: Sales Strategy, Account Management

By Victor Antonio

On the way home the other day, I was scanning the radio stations trying to find something to take my mind off the long drive and the annoying traffic. I live in Atlanta, so when I say annoying traffic, I really mean it. On one station I came across a gentleman with a persuading voice who told a wonderful story I thought I'd share with you.

One day a hunter and his dogs were in the woods hunting for rabbits. They combed through the woods beating the brush trying to stir up some prey. As they approached a clearing, all of a sudden the dog gets a scent and takes off running towards the open field. Out of nowhere pops up this long-legged jack rabbit that begins to ‘haul tail’ quickly. You could tell it was a jack rabbit by its long power hind legs.

The jack rabbit zigged and zagged trying to out maneuver the hunting dog that was in hot pursuit. As it hopped and ran, it had plenty of opportunities to jump into the many gopher holes in the field to get away from the dog.  But it didn’t.  It had many opportunities to jump behind big rocks and other heavy brush to get away but it didn’t.  In the end, the dog caught the jack rabbit.

Later on that morning, the dog caught another scent. Sure enough, it was a small, furry bunny that seemed to be three-quarters the size of the jack rabbit. The bunny, having seen the dog coming its way, darted through the bushes. The dogged leaped into the bushes after the small creature. The hunter felt somewhat sorry for the animal because he knew what its fate would be.
 

Moments later, the hunter heard the dog yelping and barking. The hunter quickly ran towards the sound beyond the bush and came across his dog digging ferociously. The dog was doing everything and anything to get under this huge log but with no success. The hunter looked under the log and figured out that the bunny had jumped into the small ditch under the log and apparently made its way to the other side and escaped. The dog, too stupid to notice, was digging; still under the impression the bunny was there. The bunny survived.
 

At the end of the day, we are left with some interesting observations and questions. Why did the bunny survive and not the strong and agile jack rabbit?  Was it the jack rabbit's pride? Was the jack rabbit too proud to use nature’s natural hiding defenses and escape mechanisms?  Or, did the jack rabbit simply fall prey to its over reliance on speed and strength, and his under utilization of common sense?
 

The bunny on the other hand, knowing it couldn’t out-run the dog, relied on its cunning to outwit the dog. The bunny used its instinctive mode of survival; evade and outsmart the hunter.

As I get older, I realize that winning is not about out-running or out-powering your competitors. Winning is about being smart.  Winning is about out-maneuvering and out-planning your competition.
 

In business, you can have the best products, with the best features, but it won’t insure your success in the marketplace.  What will insure success is strategy and positioning. 

Successful salespeople for instance know that in many cases their products or services are at parity with their competitors.  They therefore know that they can’t muscle their way into a winning bid based on the strength of their product.  What they need is a strategy, a clever one, for getting the customer to see the value they add to the deal.
 

If the product offering from a competitor is too strong, clever salespeople know when to stop wasting their time on an account and move onto the next. 

For example, during one of my sales training programs for an IT software company, a lady asked about when do you know it's time to move on.  I asked what she had done so far to penetrate the account.  She responded, "I've been calling on this customer for a little over a year and I just keep getting excuses about why they can't buy."   Call me crazy, but I would've moved on by now, especially when I found out it wasn't a 'major' account.

"Wisdom is the ability to know the difference between opportunity and absurdity."
 

The next time you find yourself in a competitive situation in business or in your personal life, keep the story of the rabbits in mind. You can rely on your power or speed to take on your opponent.  Or, you can analyze the terrain and situation in order to find a strategy of escape, not from success, towards success. This may sound strange, ‘escaping towards success’, but it makes perfect sense if you give it some thought.

Sell smart like a bunny.  Stop wasting your time fighting battles you can’t win.  Stop trying to force a situation (i.e., account sale) that isn’t meant to happen.  Remember the saying about ‘living to fight another day’.  Learn to pick your fights and battles. Know when it is time to back off and not force the situation. Learn to be strategic in your way of thinking.
 

For those of you who may be thinking, “But, I hate running!  I like being the underdog!”  Remember, pride, not intelligence killed Jack the rabbit.

Copyright © 2005 by Victor Antonio   All rights reserved.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio.