Listen to the audio version of this article brought to you by my accent 🙂 😉
The Status Quo: A few weeks ago, I came across an article written by Dr. Travis Bradberry, President of TalentSmart, on what successful and happy people focus on. I recommend you take a few minutes to read it. One behavior stood out for me. Dr. Bradberry’s research found that “successful and happy people live outside the box. They haven’t arrived at where they are by thinking in the same way as everyone else. While others stay in their comfort-zone prisons and invest all their energy in reinforcing their existing beliefs, successful people are out challenging the status quo and exposing themselves to new ideas.”
The Problem: As a sales professional, my thought process naturally transitioned to how I could apply this concept to improve my sales motion. After reflecting on the behavior Dr. Bradberry described, it was clear certain comfortable assumptions were preventing me from experiencing new ideas for myself and my clients. I had fallen victim to making excuses on behalf of prospects as to why they wouldn’t respond to my email, phone call, or voicemail, let alone, buy from me. Their silence had to be validation that they weren’t interested. And that was the problem. It was me telling myself this, not the prospect.
The Idea: The concept of challenging the status quo and exposing oneself to new ideas can be scary. You could be criticized, rejected, or ridiculed. I had gotten comfortable hiding behind emails, phone calls, and voicemails. It was easy to show management and anyone that cared how many emails I had sent, phone calls I had made, and voicemails I had left. What I couldn’t show were results. A good measure of a decent sales professional is his or her ability to deliver results, not excuses. I needed a new approach. Inspired by Dr. Bradberry’s article, I was compelled to escape out of my comfort-zone prison. The concept of living outside the box propelled me to come up with the idea of visiting my prospect, unannounced, to get some face time. I was confident in the value I could deliver. The reality is, having an idea is like the regular season, everyone has a good idea, so all teams are in; executing on the idea is like the playoffs, the stakes are much higher, so not all teams can make it. I had to make the playoffs and go all the way.
The Visit: The day came to visit the client. It was a rocky start as I missed the entrance to the parking garage and had to park in the next building. I thought about reparking but decided not to, instead, I got excited about getting a few extra steps counted towards my steps goal. I was too focused on the bigger goal of getting face time with the CTO. So I marched towards the elevator as “what if” questions and thoughts raced through my mind. What if he is not there? What if he refuses to see me? What if he is genuinely not interested? What if I am rejected and publicly humiliated? I marched on, believing my mission, and welcoming the outcome that lay ahead. If nothing else, it would make a good story.
The Result: As fate would have it, the CEO of the company was exiting the elevator seconds after I walked into the building. I immediately recognized him from the countless hours I had spent studying his profile and the profile of his leadership team. Missing the parking lot started to seem like a blessing. I called out to the CEO with enthusiasm by his first name as if we had known each other for years. He paused, perplexed, and turned towards me. I walked up to him and introduced myself and flawlessly delivered the elevator pitch I had been practicing for weeks. Actually, it wasn’t 100% flawless, I was nervous, and my accent may have caused some words to sound way too melodious, but that didn’t bother me, my message got across. The CEO was appreciative of how much I knew about his company and was intrigued by my ideas of how to help him scale. We chatted for a few more minutes, and then I asked if he could introduce me to the CTO. He said Yes, got out his phone, called the CTO, and asked him to come down to meet me. Boom! When the CTO arrived, the CEO made the introduction and moved to his next appointment. The CTO apologized to me for not responding to my messages, thanked me for stopping by, and informed me they were interested in doing business with me. That day was the start of a great partnership. #Results
The Result…again: I shared this story with one of my mentees who was struggling to make some progress with one of her clients. I encouraged her to step outside of her comfort zone and attempt a new approach. She decided to pay the CEO and CTO a visit, unannounced. Although the CEO and CTO were not in the office the day she visited, she left her business card with the receptionist. A few days later, the CTO emailed her and asked her for a proper meeting. She ended up closing a major deal with the customer. #Results #Again
The Conclusion: Be bold. Pursue new ideas. And remember, actions precede results.
