If your business runs on the calendar year, it’s that time of year again. As of January first the “new-business” slate has been wiped clean and the pressure is on to produce. We all know the basics: come up with goals and objectives, develop a plan, determine why you absolutely have to make it happen, and then get to work. That said, if you want 2016 to be significantly better than 2015 it’s going to take an attitude shift and massive action. And while you’re charging ahead every day getting done what needs to be done, it will be helpful to keep these three lesser-known success ideas in mind.
You won’t be as successful as you otherwise could be if…
…you’re not uncomfortable and scared every day.
In order to grow personally and professionally you must step out of your comfort zone and face your fears every day. If you’ve read my past articles, you know I proselytize that the inability to deal effectively with fear and discomfort is the main reason people fail in sales. Both lead to a lack of activity in the three most important sales areas: prospecting, follow up, and closing. The solution is to get comfortable being uncomfortable and to act in spite of fear. Make that call you’ve been putting off for months. Forget the e-mail and go see that prospect in person. Find the biggest, scariest prospect you can, and make the call. You know who and what your demons are. You know which dragons you’re afraid to face. If you don’t face them you’ll always wonder what might have been. You’ll lay on your deathbed with regrets and ultimately take those regrets to your grave. We all know the saying that, “The coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero only one.” The reality is, while the coward imagines the worst, never makes call, and does face the death of their self-esteem and sales career, the hero usually wins and doesn’t die at all. The hero discovers that the dragon or demon they thought was so bad wasn’t, it was just their imagination giving in to fear and discomfort. Finally, as long as we’re digging up old sayings and clichés, remember, for most people the ship doesn’t come in, they have to swim out to it.
…you’re not making any mistakes.
There’s a quote that reads, “To discover the limits of the possible, you must go beyond them into the impossible.” All great skiers, skaters, and race-car drivers know that if you don’t fall or crash, you’re not pushing the envelope and you probably aren’t getting any better. In sales, if you’re not making mistakes, you aren’t taking enough action. When you try new things, push yourself to new heights, and put yourself in uncomfortable situations in order to get comfortable, you are going to make some mistakes. Part of the growing process is finding out where the edge of the envelope is and then coming up with more efficient and effective ways to deal with that edge. As a side note, keep in mind that I’m not talking about careless mistakes due to indifference or mistakes that you keep making over and over again. That’s plain ignorance and those mistakes are inexcusable. Again, I’m talking about the kind of mistakes that come from taking calculated risks and massive action.
…you’re not running into new problems.
As your business grows, your problems naturally change and get bigger. Your goal is to create new problems, big problems, because the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity associated with it. Growing your customer base to a size that’s too large to handle is an example of a good problem. Realizing that you have too many appointments on a given day is a good problem. Having to significantly increase your estimated tax payments because you’re making too much money is another example of a good problem. Any problem you run into in business has a solution, though the solution may not be easy and it may not be without pain. That’s okay, small problems and no pain equals a small business with very little revenue. Again, your goal is big, new problems.
John Chapin is a sales and motivational speaker and trainer. For his free newsletter, or if you would like him to speak at your next event, go to: www.completeselling.com John has over 28 years of sales experience as a number one sales rep and is the author of the 2010 sales book of the year: Sales Encyclopedia. For permission to reprint, e-mail: johnchapin@completeselling.com.
