I was recently pointed to a blog post about Straight Razors as a metaphor for life by my friend Reese over at Cocktail Hacker.  I like what the author starts off with there and want to extend the metaphor to Sales.  The best part is here (in case you’re too lazy to read the link):

But using a straight razor requires daily maintenance. Every time you shave you need to strop it to get that keen edge to slice through whiskers, and when you’re finished shaving you need to dry the blade so it doesn’t rust and chip, and every now and then when the blade gets dull, you have to get out the hone and do some grinding. In short, using a straight razor takes a lot of work, but it gives you a superior shave and lasts much longer than its disposable razor cousins.

The sharpening work isn’t easy, or fun, or something that most people will look forward to doing.  But it takes the dedicated effort to get it done.

• Making your prospecting calls
• Tracking your prospects
• Following your processes
• Doing your follow up calls with past clients
• Using whatever pipeline management tools you use
• Going to networking meetings
• Doing paperwork

You see my point.  Most of us don’t like to do those things, we like to be in front of a client talking and making the actual close happen.  But if you aren’t doing the sharpening tasks you’re not going to be able to get there with as clean a shave.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenoyes