How to sell outside of your comfort zone
Being in business allows you to push the boundaries of what you think can be achieved. But can you honestly say you sell outside of your comfort zone?
What could happen if you did?
Think it through….if your current marketing strategy allows you to create your current supply of customers what could happen if you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone?
(Here’s a clue, it will definitely involve more time creating invoices and less time chatting on social media !)
So How Do You Do It?
- If it feels big and scary….keep going. Things feel scary and out of our ability range when we feel there is something to lose. We feel like there is a lot to be missed out on if it goes wrong….so polarise that thought. If there is a lot that could be lost there is just as much (if not more) that could be gained.
- Keep doing what works but ask yourself what would take you so far out of your comfort zone when it comes to selling? If you normally choose to sell over the phone or via word of mouth, would picking up the phone panic you? Networking a No No? Media work moves you in all the wrong ways? Do it anyway!
- Don’t ask Don’t get. Asking is the scary part. Men traditionally are great at closing the deal but lack the nuances of relationship building that women do and so go straight for the sale and risk scaring the buyer off. Women on the other hand can be brilliant at creating great relationships but can lack the ability to close the sale. So ask for what you want.
- Believe in better. If you think something is likely to go wrong, your brain will be as considerate as possible to create as many reminders of previous failure and plenty of hints on how to recreate it, undermining your ability to achieve. So believe in what you do. Believe in your course of action, your ability and visualise the end goal. That’s right, more invoices created, more money banked and less time to play procrastinating!
Really want to get out of your comfort zone?
Tell the INsiders what action you intend to take, and let us support you to achieve it.
Who Do You Think You Are!
When it comes to a speaking engagement I like to think of my audience, Who are they? What do they want? What do they need? etc., etc.
And as I go through this process it’s inevitable for me that I start to think of my clients. My theory being if is an issue for one person it stands to be an issue for another. So using my anecdotes in key note addresses really connects with my audience….(could be some advice in there about marketing right?)
So as I prepare for a speaking engagement I’m reminded of the number of people that I’ve coached this month who have all in one format or another showed the same underlining issue that is detrimentally damaging their success.
Do you want to know what that is?
Really want to know?
Because when I tell you, many of you will stop, look up as if thinking (because you are thinking) and say to yourself….”Wow is this me too?”
The fact is for so many people in business you have the big goals and ambitions and work hard to achieve them. And then one day (for those this impacts, as if by magic) you start to get results.
And then as your business grows and more people want in, (again as if by magic) you start to get asked to share your knowledge, speak at conferences, comment in the press or head hunted for a great new opportunity.
Business Coach Mandie Holgate and Susan Pattrick from Dancing Giraffe spent time thinking and contemplating…if only someone had told them what to contemplate!
And instead of saying “Wow, well done me, look at what I’ve achieved.”The natural state to rush to is “Oh no, wait until they find out its just me!”
What stops a successful business woman who has achieved so much from not accepting success?
Why do people dismiss their successes and acknowledge their failures?
So I challenge you to be honest with yourself, do you dismiss your successes like you do a compliment? Have you ever said any of the following;
“What this old thing, I’ve had it for years.”
“Anyone could do what I’ve done really.”
“I don’t know why they chose us, just right, place right time I suppose.”
“My competitors are just as good at this really.”
“I don’t know why they asked me.”
“I suppose I was just lucky.”
Then I wouldn’t mind betting that you allow your brain to accept and acknowledge your failures and yet you don’t praise and accept your successes with the same level of passion.
You don’t need a coach by your side to know if you do this and the impact that this can have on your success. Do you worry that you are going to get found out?
I will be honest with you here, its something I too have had to address. For me I always felt like I was a 5 year old in my Mum’s dress up clothes. Even when the Home Office invited me to hear an address by the Home Secretary on Women’s success I asked the lady if she knew it was just Mandie Holgate from little old Mersea island?
Come on ladies, we don’t have to start strutting around like that insurance advert in skin tight demin shorts, swishing our hair shouting “because we are worth it”. However you do need an internal belief, that says “You go girl!” “Yeah Me!” “Wow look what I can achieve!”
I agree there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence, however when there is so much stacked up against you and your success, why add You to the pile of negativity?
I will be speaking at the Big Chelmsford Business Showcase on the 18th November about Making It Happen and The BWN are stand Number 33, So see you there. To learn more book here.