The Sky Is Falling!

“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

Henny Penny would have you believe that the sky is falling, that the end is near. She would most definitely have you believe that your world is coming to end.

Henny Penny will tell you that the balance of power in selling has shifted, that the buyer is now completely in control, and that you have no choice as to whether or not you are commoditized. The doom-saying chicken doesn’t believe that anyone can create value because she cannot, refusing to see or hear anything to the contrary.

Henny Penny would have you believe—like she does—that because some roles are going to be automated, that all roles will be automated. Hence, you have no place in a future that has no place for you. This disturbed bird wants you to share in her fear. She wants you to be paranoid and to overact with her.

According to said Hen:

• The cold call is dead.
• The field sales force is dead.
• Traditional prospecting is dead.
• Opportunity creation is dead.
• Closing is dead.
• Selling is dead. And soon, you too will be relegated to the ash heap of history.

This frightened, feathered fowl will squawk about this trend and that trend, offering you evidence that what she foretells is true and unavoidable, leaving out the evidence and information that would suggest that her reading is skewed and inaccurate.

The problem with large, loud Chicken Littles that run around making noise about the end of the world is that they are only speaking of their own experience. Because an acorn fell from a tree and hit them on the head, they believe that their experience is shared universally by one and all. In the end, all who followed Henny Penny end up being eaten by a fox.

Pay attention to what is going on around you. Don’t ignore trends that require you to change and grow. But while you are doing so, don’t listen to those who would feed you their fears.