“Low hanging fruit!  We’re going to focus on the low-hanging fruit to drive sales and get revenue.”

I’ve heard that phrase so many times, I can’t even tell you.

On the surface focusing on “low-hanging” fruit sounds like a great idea, but the problem is low-hanging fruit may not be as easy to get as you think.

I spent all day yesterday at a client site doing 2013 plan reviews.  One of the reps shared she was going to focus on “low-hanging” fruit to help drive Q1 revenue. On the surface, this was not a bad initiative. Her targets were truly “low-hanging fruit.” If she could find the companies she was talking about, the sales cycle would be shorter and she could close deal faster.

Here’s the rub.

I asked; “how much time will it take to find these companies. Are they easy to find? Can you get to them quickly?”

The answer; “No, it will take a long time. They aren’t easy to find.”

The companies she identified were great companies to pursuit and truly are low-hanging fruit. The problem wasn’t the sales process, but the finding process. The amount time it required to find them, offset any “low-hanging” advantage. It didn’t make sense for her to focus only on these companies. It wouldn’t help her Q1.

There rarely is “low-hanging” fruit. Anything that is truly easy, has a very short shelf-life. Everyone is already picking at it.

I live in Colorado.  I know Colorado grows amazing peaches.  I’m sure there are some peach trees somewhere near me, with giant, juicy peaches, with in reach, ready to be picked.  But, I have no idea where to find one.  In the time it would take me to find a peach tree and get there, I could have just gone to King Soopers (our local grocery store) and bought a dozen.

It’s not enough to be “low-hanging” fruit. You have to know where the find the tree and a whole lot more.