Fire and Motion and Sales

Some progress is better than no progress at all

Feb 18, 2022

I am writing this while I am in Seattle for a team event. It is late at night after a week long series of back to back meetings, workshops, 1:1’s, and team bonding. The last thing that is separating me from my hotel bed that is three feet away is this newsletter. I am utterly exhausted and I could just pack it in, but I am finishing it because of fire and motion.

When I was still actively coding, there was a startup founder, Joel Spolsky, who was well-known in the developer community and whose content I would read for guidance and inspiration. When blogging was still relatively new, he religiously wrote about his experiences as a developer, a manager, and an entrepreneur.

One post that stuck with me was a story he shared from his youth when he was a paratrooper in the military. A general stopped by one day to give a short talk to his troop about the only strategy that actually matters for infantry; fire and motion. That is the process of firing on the enemy while advancing on their position. By taking the initiative, you prevent the enemy from doing the same to you and gaining position.

In some ways, this describes our work in sales. Instead of enemies, we have customers, and instead of gaining territory, we are closing deals. The process can be slow going, where little progress is made for large swaths of time. You have to do whatever it takes however to keep pushing forward.

“I noticed how almost every kind of military strategy, from air force dogfights to large scale naval maneuvers, is based on the idea of Fire and Motion. It took me another fifteen years to realize that the principle of Fire and Motion is how you get things done in life. You have to move forward a little bit, every day.”

In Joel’s case, he was talking about software developers. There is this notion called developer flow where there are periods of time when a developer can focus deeply on the problem to solve and churn out an incredible quantity of high quality code. This flow is not like an on/off switch though, these moments are situational and environmental.

The rest of the time outside of flow was spent doing everything other than the task at hand. He would spend much of the day emailing, staring out windows, checking up on email, dreaming about lunch, etc. Very rarely was he productive for more than a few hours a day. There were entire days and weeks when he simply could not get anything done.

Getting into the flow of work can vary widely from person to person. There are people that are super disciplined and focused. They get their tasks done on time, in an organized manner, and know exactly how they are allocating their time each day. These are the type of people that have well-organized calendars, practice inbox zero, and color coordinate their clothing drawers.

Then there is mostly everyone else. It is not like this group of people are living in total chaos, but there is not the level of focus and careful coordination that we read about in productivity books or articles about getting stuff done. This is the world of normal people, where there is a constant struggle to maintain some semblance of organization.

This is why most of those resources we read about being more effective and efficient generally fail us. They are aspirational and speak to a world that exists in a bubble where real life cannot intrude. It is a well-maintained fantasy world much in the way most diet books and get rich quick videos promise glory with quick fixes and shortcuts. Problem is there are no short-cuts.

In this spectrum between hyper focused and no focus, is where each one of us sits. And for most of us, we got to nudge ourselves into action. This is not because we are lazy. We want to win deals, earn our commission, and be successful in our career. Being human though in a world of other humans means we also have to navigate through bad bosses, pushy coworkers, overbearing customers, family struggles, and the daily bouts of malaise that sets in.

Part of getting into sales flow is realizing that for most of us, being truly productive is a struggle. But in sales, not being productive is pipeline death and eventually career death. If we are not getting off our asses, building a massive amount of activity, and executing on the plan, then we have no deals, no revenue, no quota attainment.

This is where fire and motion matter. Maybe every day is not a winner, but you do enough to get the ball rolling and let momentum carry you forward. The “fire and motion” in our cases may mean a routine or set of routines that we can do on autopilot, much like morning stretches before going into a workout or run. These routines are our work warm-ups, that initiate just enough motion so that inertia can keep us moving on the actions for the rest of the day.

What are those routines? They can be anything that comes easy for you. Sometimes it might be reaching out to close customer contacts, journaling, reading, talking to a colleague, or even some basic admin tasks. My brain dead admin task to do when I am not productive is to clean up my contact database. The point is not the doing as much as it is the nudge to get to the things that are impactful in driving results.

Sales flow is also a matter of environment and work setting. Like almost everyone, work from home (WFH) meant working in less than ideal situations. As much as we might dislike the commute, loud coworkers, or other office annoyances, the constant din of family, pets, and roommates in the background while you are trying to work on a makeshift, cluttered desk is even more depressing and uninspiring. After a day of video calls, it is no wonder we feel more tired than before WFH was the norm.

Some companies did the right thing and gave employees a stipend to upgrade their WFH setups. I invested in a good chair, an adjustable standing desk, and a good light. Even if you did not get such a perk (or had a kind manager that let you expense office equipment), it is worth raising the bar on the work setting. Maybe that is a better chair or desk, or moving to a place with more natural light, or making your surroundings more comfortable and relaxing with plants, cushions, and cool gadgets. Make your surroundings work for how you work best.

Lastly, it is important to realize that being in sales is about execution. Your activity is ultimately what produces outcomes. Sure, every role can be measured and tied to metrics, but sales is the most metrics driven of any role and the function that has the most impact on the success of the company. Sometimes we have to dig deeper to find our flow. It comes down to commitment, much like this newsletter. There are times when I am not feeling it, but I dig deep to get it done.

Hopefully you can find the things that keep you engaged and focused on work. Do not get down on yourself though if not every day is a home run. Sometimes we just need a little bit of fire and motion to make enough progress to keep the sales engine moving.

Mark Birch, Founder of Enterprise Sales Forum