When is the best time to prospect for new sales? A sales expert will tell you it is immediately after making a sale. Equally, a soccer coach will tell you that the best time to go for a new competition is when the team is beginning to record wins. A consultant’s best moment for making a pitch is when his firm has secured a new client. Precisely, the best time to make a new attempt is when you have just done it right. If you succeed this time, you build momentum.
Energy is high when momentum is created. Inspiration is rife when momentum is created. In business, the momentum level is reached when the business brands, products and market demand are gaining traction. It is that phase where every market attempt seems to come off fine.
This phase is highly desirable. It is a moment when the sales team start feeling like they can ‘sell the world’. It is that phase where everything the marketing team touches seems to turn to gold.
This phase is a treasure. It is the ‘success streak’ level. It is the best phase for startups striving to scale. It is the best window for a large organisation seeking to drive new growth. The climb can be effortless, all things being equal.
However, every momentum phase has a starting point. Take the Hilda Bacci, a Nigerian chef brand, for instance. To scale up her brand value, she rides the waves of every Guinness World record accomplishment, landing new influencer deals while ensuring that value doesn’t diminish – like when the accomplishment is still intact in the audience’s mind – before she attempts a new world record. Every time she gets a new record, it scales up her value. To leave too much space in between those attempts would halt her industry momentum.
Elon Musk, an American billionaire, also understands how to build and sustain momentum. Describing Elon, Juriaan Karsten, who is an expert on the subject, wrote via Medium, “When he got his first big payoff, he ploughed everything into PayPal. While PayPal was still trying to make its mark one step at a time, he had already started putting his money into the next big thing, SpaceX. He does not slow down while he’s successful because he knows he’ll lose his forward motion that way. While still enjoying the success, he keeps on working and already has his eye set on the next big achievement. He is the embodiment of business momentum. He keeps the train going head-on without stopping.”
The approach is simple. As soon as you hit a streak, build on it. Energy burst and motivation are great levers for pushing through natural obstacles that often challenge any business push. Let’s talk about the three ways to create momentum and sustain it:
a. Focus on your low-hanging fruit first – A business team can hit a snag that punctures its motivation level if it begins to record too many initial failures. It takes a strong conviction to keep going like Thomas Edison, who wouldn’t stop trying to create a bulb despite failing hundreds of times. Not many people have the balls to get that far. If you are into selling, start pitching first to your ‘circle of best wishers’, comprising friends and family, or a familiar city or town that holds a bond. Conquering this circle will help you build momentum. As you record those ‘best wishers’ patronage, your confidence grows. Even if you get pushback outside that circle, it will hardly dent your energy flow.
b. Cease the moment – If you have ever seen kids who are learning to stand on their feet for the first time, you will understand this point. When kids discover a few firmness on their feet, they just want to start running around. The good part is that as they attempt to run around, they might still stumble, yet their legs gain more firmness through those attempts. When your team hits a streak of success, don’t allow the moment to waste. Push them to scale.
c. Recycle the streak at the right time – You must have heard the saying, ‘nothing lasts forever’. You will need to renew momentum by trying something new. Familiarity generates boredom, degenerating subsequently into disinterest. This is the diminishing return moment. Every business gets to that period. What such a moment calls for is extension or renewal. Tweak that offering or extend the brand essence to a new segment. iPhone maker Apple tweak its offering consistently to break the familiarity mould. If you don’t tweak at the appropriate moment, the business can lose momentum.
