Well it is Christmas Morning and my children have opened all their treasures from Santa. They are now playing, fully concentrated on building their castles and race tracks (I have 2 boys), so it seemed like a great time to take a moment and share with you a reflection I had while I was making gifts for my family for Christmas.

This year I wanted to make some gifts. I bought a book on how to create jars of various mixes, and I made 4 jars of Pistachio-Lemon Shortbread Cookie mix along with a recipe card to give out to each of my family members.

I made the mistake of buying a big bag of Pistachios that WERE NOT shelled. Each jar required a full cup and a 1/4 of shelled pistachios, among other things. So last night I sat down to begin shelling the pistachios to chop and put into the jars.

I started the process picking each pistachio carefully, using both hands to tenderly open the shells and put each shelled nut in a bowl.  I looked first for the shells that were already open. The ones I could easily pry.  One by one, I put each nut in the bowl.  Plop, Plop, they clanged as each one dropped into the empty bowl.  After about 15 minutes of this I only had about a 1/4 cup of nuts in the bowl.  I realized I had a LONG way to go and way too much to do besides sitting there shucking pistachio nuts.  Thank goodness they were the white ones and not the messy pink ones that stain your fingers.  And of course the process was taking long too because for every nut I put in the bowl, I was eating two!! Ha Ha..

So, as the process began to unfold, I noticed that I started to get into a rhythm. The nuts were going into the bowl quicker and the pile was getting bigger. I was seeing some results finally! And then I realized that if I held the shell over the bowl and pried it open, they fell right into the bowl without having to pull it out. Now we’re talkin!! 

I also was coming across shells that were not open at all, and so I just passed those right by and put them in a separate pile in which I would eventually just smash with a hammer to get open.

I was reminded of how this process is much like prospecting in our business.  When we have a batch of leads we begin by simply picking up the phone and going down the list. And as we do, we begin to sort, and we build a rhythm, a natural momentum, and with each repetition of the script, with each objection we face and overcome, the next time gets easier and easier. And as we put to the side the pistachios we can’t open, we do the same with people that are not open to the possibilities of their own lives, with no attachment or emotion about it.

We can always come back to those people with a nut cracker or hammer later, but in order to effectively prospect, we simply gravitate to the ones that are easy to open and put them in “our bowl” or our “pipeline.”  When I did finally open enough shells & nuts to put into the jars, I did go back to the ones that were tough to open and took a hammer to them. But what I found was when I smashed the shells, I also smashed the nut inside, which made it impossible to put them in the jar. And that is also what it’s like when we try to convince or persuade anyone to join our business.

I am happy to say that I was successful in creating the 4 wonderful jars of Pistachio-Lemon Shortbread Cookie mixes for my family. I’m looking forward to giving them these gifts as I put my time and love and care into them, which means so much more to most people I think than a gift card from Walmart.

So the next time you sit down to prospect remember that by simply following a systematic approach, the momentum and movement will begin naturally. And don’t waste your time with the people you can’t open.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Carol Ann Martin
Founder - Synergy Prosperity Alliance
Coastal Synergy Group Leadership Board Member
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