Being a great salesperson is really not a lot different than being a great farmer. Farming and sales are very similar in what needs to be done. If salespeople would think more like farmers their income would grow like crops grow.

When you look at farming it is based on two fundamental laws of nature.

The first is you reap what you sow.

Farmers are paid based on sowing. If the farmer doesn't sow seeds, the farmer has zero results. The first and most important thing for a farmer to do is sow seed. No seeds… no crop! Now one could argue that there are better fields, more fertile land, more efficient and effective ways to farm, better fertilizer, better watering techniques. All these variables can increase the quality and quantity of the harvest. They mean nothing without seeds in the ground. If you don't plant seeds it doesn't matter what else you do after that, you won't have a crop. You could have the best watering system in the whole world, but without seeds, you have nothing.

"Sales" is like farming. The seed-planting process in selling is prospecting. Just as the farmer does not get a crop without planting seeds, a salesperson does not get results without prospecting. I realize there are many people trying to sell you a no-prospecting system which promises success. I also know that many of us buy these systems, and most of us wish we didn't have to prospect. When we look at reality and the laws of the world, we can come to only one conclusion; we have to put in before we can take out. The prospecting is putting in.

As a salesperson you could have the greatest computer driven monitoring system, marketing pieces, presentations, drip campaign, tracking systems and staff. Without prospecting as a constant focus to sow new seeds, the rest does not matter. Too often we spend so much time trying to get everything perfect, we lack the one thing that is the choke point for most sales businesses… prospecting.

The second fundamental is you reap more than you sow.

The farmer gets far more than he plants. When a farmer plants corn, he receives a return of corn that is greater than the corn he planted. The seeds of corn will return the original investment to the farmer with interest. The tiny seeds that were sown ended up producing many more ears of corn with hundreds of kernels per ear. This abundance comes from one seed! It is almost unfair how much is received from sowing a little seed. One seed the size of a corn kernel yields thousands of kernels on multiple ears of corn.

As a salesperson, that type of abundant return is waiting for you when you sow your seeds. When you prospect, the return in dollars, far outweighs the effort that you put forth. You tap into the law of accumulation, which says everything accumulates. We are in a constant state of accumulation. We are either accumulating positive things or negative things. We do not have the power or choice to not accumulate. The only choice we have is what the accumulation will be. There are only two options when it comes to accumulation. They are dramatically different, either good or bad. Based on what we do, we will either accumulate good things or bad things.

If we sow bad things or bad habits or bad seeds, we will accumulate bad things. Since you reap more than you sow, you will reap an over abundance of negative things if you sow negative seeds. If you sow positive or good habits and good things, you will reap an over abundance of good things.

Let me close with this thought… it is not fair!! It's not fair that you attract an overabundance of negative things when you sow bad habits and bad things. I am the first to agree it is not fair. I am also the first to say it is just the way it is, and it will not change. The law has been present for thousands of years and it will still be in effect long after I am gone. Whatever you sow you will reap in great quantities.

It is also not fair that we receive such a large return for sowing positive habits and positive things. We are compensated incredibly for a little bit of consistent sowing or prospecting. We sow a tremendous return for a little physical activity. We receive abundantly from a little time invested consistently with our children. With a little daily physical activity, we can drop weight. With a little savings of money each week we can become financially independent. The return is huge compared to the small sacrifice or small amount of saving we must do!

If you focus on productive sowing everyday, your life will change dramatically. It won't change overnight like most of us want. We all want everything yesterday. We live in an instant society. We want it all now, money, wealth, power, physical health, peace of mind, the love and respect of others. It's pretty hard to liposuction out the bad habits of life today. If you start now, things will change for you. It will change in a season just like the seed of a farmer. Be patient, it will take a season, not overnight. Keep going once you start with the assurance that your career, your life and your health will get better. Do not wait to let another season pass you by.

Start planting and sowing today… do not wait… do it now!

Published: March 15, 2004

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Dirk Zeller is an Agent, an Investor, and the President & CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. He's the widely published author of Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print. You can get more information by visiting RealEstateChampions.com.