Meet Bob.
Bob is an amalgamation of clients I’ve coached over the years. Any resemblance to ONE real person is merely coincidental…especially if I’ve coached YOU and you think this sounds familiar.
Bob is comfortable. He makes enough money to pay for the necessities, and plenty of extras in his life. In a good year. No more, no less than he needs. He mostly calls on existing clients; they like him, and willingly take his calls. He calls this ”selling” because they do have other choices and can leave at any time. He also likes driving all around town, making unscheduled visits to his clients. He likes getting face to face with his clients, and being in the field makes him feel productive. When he must, he makes a cold call or two, might even try to set up an appointment, but quickly gets consumed by the “fires” of the day that need his attention; he likes being the person that people call on to solve problems. People call him a magician, and he likes it. Most appointments he sets get cancelled, so he has decided that making them in the first place is a waste of time. He is neither moving up nor down in his career. Unless market forces he can’t control change, he will make about the same this year as he has every year…until the market goes up or down, then so does his income. He expects this. Bob is comfortable. Are you like Bob?
A comfort zone by definition is the space in which you feel most comfortable. Secure. Or to put it another way, perhaps boring or complacent. In what way have you become enmeshed in a comfort zone in your life, like Bob? Your relationships? Your career? Your health? Well, since this is a blog about sales, let’s look at how comfort zones can affect your progress, your income, and your career satisfaction.
If you have been in sales for any period of time, you probably have a routine and you stick to it. But over time, you need to venture out of your comfort zone and try some new tactics and meet some new prospects.
Here are a few things to consider:
1. Your comfort zone of people: Chances are that you see the same people at the same events, right? While this can be helpful in building brand and face recognition with people, I bet there are prospects at those same events that you have never worked with.
Challenge: At your next event or meeting, find at least 3 people that you don’t do business with and talk with them!!
2. Your comfort zone of routine: I would bet that you have a route that you go through in a day/week/month where you attend the same meetings, visit the same offices, etc. Why not shake things up and challenge yourself to visit an office outside of your usual route…or attend an event that you don’t normally attend.
Challenge: Find at least 2 new offices or meetings to attend and talk to at least 2 people at each of them!
3. Your comfort zone of process: Without a plan, humans become strangely loyal to trivial acts. Examine what activities are bringing you the most business and drop the ones that don’t. ( I know…a collective gasp from the readers!) So, think of it like this…why do it if it is not bringing you money??
Challenge: Look at all of the things that take your time, and then monetize them. If you are continuing to do activities that are not bringing you revenue (directly) then stop doing them for one month and see what happens. My guess is nothing!
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
Grow Big or Go Home!