Keep Watering and Fertilizing!

Have you ever questioned a marketing strategy a few weeks after its launch and wondered if it was going to pay off? Have you ever gotten 60 days into a new prospecting effort and questioned your original intent, re-thinking if you made the right decision? Maybe you have been visiting real estate or escrow offices, apartment complexes or commercial prospects each week and by the 4th week nothing seems to be happening.

You might even be spending time on the phone making outbound cold calls or mailing another 2,000 leads to likely prospects and wonder, “Is this going to work?” We all wonder when trying something new, if our efforts are likely to produce our desired results. It’s easy to question our action plan and even consider changing course, or stopping all together, when results are not immediate. These are the times when your resolve will be tested. It’s not a time to quit, but rather a time to press on!

My advice… Keep watering and fertilizing, the results will come!

I am reminded of a story that is applicable here, when my kids were a lot younger. About 7 years ago, in the spring of 2002 we decided to plant a garden of summer squash. On an early Saturday morning we worked to prepare the soil for planting. We cultivated, removed rocks and debris, worked in some fertilizer, and prepared to plant. We planted several varieties of squash and organized them by type with small stakes identifying their scientific names. We created basins around each plant to hold a good supply of water. Squash need a lot of water! We even placed stakes around the parameter of the garden to designate our special plot of ground.

I will never forget Annie’s excitement throughout the process. She was about seven years old at the time. Watching her reactions and comments during this experience was a real treat. The next morning Annie sprang up early and ran out the front door in her pajamas to our garden plot. Once there, with her hands on her knees, she peered into the small basins of soil expecting to see squash, but there was none. She looked and looked and looked, but nothing was there. With a disappointed look on her face, she slowly walked across the yard and back into the house. Peering out the kitchen window I watched her disappointed return.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Where’s the squash?” she inquired.

This was one of those moments a parent lives for, a chance to do some real teaching. So, we talked about sowing and reaping and the process required to yield an expected harvest later in the summer. We talked about the price and the prize and discussed her role in enjoying that delicious zucchini squash. She would be involved in the watering and the weeding as well as enjoying the harvest, but it all would take time. I remember her reaction being one of childlike acceptance, but also as if to say,

“This is a lot more complicated than I thought.”

Being halfway through this earthly experience, I can agree that life is a lot more complicated that I thought. It takes a lot more time, effort, and diligence than I ever imagined, especially in the areas of watering and fertilizing. I don’t care whether you are planting summer squash, raising a child or growing and agency; it takes hard work and diligent effort to see a worthwhile plan come together.

As you work at building your individual agencies, it is reasonable to be frustrated and to tire in well doing. Sometimes the watering and fertilizing can go on for days, months, or even years. Being committed to a consistent game plan is the key! Do not be deterred. Stay focused on what you are doing, keep your head down and the results will come! Have faith and it will come together. Overtime, as we water and fertilize we will find that our efforts will take root. Often, we will not know the timing or the moment of the harvest, but it will occur. Of this I am certain.

Enjoy the watering!