Swing For The Fences
Rookie Mickey Mantle started the game against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on May 1st, 1951, as the New York Yankees leadoff hitter and right fielder. Mantle realized this would be one of the most significant games of his career as soon as he hit his first homer.
I’ll bet none of you has forgotten the first big sale you knocked out of the park.
It filled your chest with bravado and fed the ego enough to get you past a gauntlet of NOs on your way to the next big sale.
The problem is that feeling of the first sale tends to fade away over time. Sometimes it’s rekindled when you give way to reliving the glory days with friends or you’re trading war stories with your peers, but it never fails to make your heart (and sometimes your head!) swell with pride and a sense of accomplishment. It restores your swagger and increases your confidence. Somehow the next sale or two comes a little easier when you’re feeling ten-feet tall and bulletproof!
But why lose that feeling at all?
The problem is that you’re thinking about that first sale as a one-time thing. If you think about it, you’re making a first sale all the time:
- The first time you cold call a new prospect!
- The first time you get an appointment with a new prospect!
- The first time you make a sale to a new client!
- The first time you received a client testimonial on LinkedIn!
- The first time you get retweeted by a new follower on Twitter!
- The first time you get a lead from your weekly email newsletter!
- The first time you give a lead to your customer!
- The first time you take a client to a ball game!
There is no end to the amount of “firsts” you can celebrate and use as inspirational fuel to power that next cold call or follow-up visit or presentation.
Mickey Mantle went on to hit a lot of memorable homeruns in his career. He is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter all time and one of the greatest baseball players in history — but it all started with his first homerun.
