Aldous Huxley, I believe, said that the ultimate end of the intelligent persons journey is a return to simplicity, from which less intelligent folks have never budged.

He could have been speaking about success in selling.

As a sales manager and consultant Ive seen it time and again.

Ill train someone who doesnt know any better than to follow my instructions to the letter. In short order, he succeeds.

In fact, he excels, and like a runner in peak condition, he sprints past folks who have been doing what hes doing a lot longer.

Then, he falls into his first slump.

His sales decline, he scratches his head in bewilderment. A few days or weeks before, he was on top, and now hes sinking fast.

Whats wrong?

I ask a simple question: Are you on your presentation or off of it?

Uh, he thinks for a second, Im on it, I guess.

No, youre not! I reply with irksome certitude.

How do you know? he bristles.

Because this is always what happens when we deviate from a successful presentation.

In simple terms, if you change your message, youll change your results. Alter the inputs, and the outputs will be altered, too; that makes sense, right?

But succeeding salespeople think they have risen above merely mortal matters of cause and effect. Suddenly, they think theyre good or great, or even, gifted.

Thats when the free fall happens. They go from a work ethic to an entitlement ethic, believing fictions such as this one: Id prefer to work smart, than to work hard!

This translates into working less and expecting more, which means leaving crucial things out of your sales regimen that were there when you were freshly trained.

Finally, slumping salespeople get back to basics, forcing themselves to KISS; to Keep It Simple, Stupid!

And their sales take off, again.

Until, that is, the next time they try to outthink what has been proven to work!