The Scariest Words in Business Development
Being afraid can cause physical reactions in the body. When watching horror movies, you might react by shivering, closing or shielding your eyes, startling, trembling, screaming, and sometimes you can even be literally paralyzed with fear!
Does your body react this way when you’re supposed to make a cold call?
What Are You Most Afraid Of?
Many people have deep fears about anything related to reaching out to new people and “putting themselves out there” in business.
Professionals I know seem to find all sorts of creative things to do in their day to get out of business development because of that fear.
Will You Do Anything to Avoid It?
- Shoot! I was going to make a bunch of calls this week, but…I needed to sort the papers on my desk.
- Darn! I was going to go to that networking event, but I’ve been meaning to organize my pen drawer.
- You know...I was planning to reach out to those people I met last week but my bathroom tile grout needed scrubbing.
These are all ways that you are covering your eyes, just hoping the freaky movie scene will be over soon.
Who would have thought the scariest words in the English language could be “cold calling” or “business development”??
Didn’t know that until you got into business, did ya!?
Frozen with Fear
When you don’t know HOW to do a thing, it can be scary to try.
When you don’t know WHO you should be talking to and WHAT YOU SHOULD SAY, of course, you’ll want to avoid it.
When you don’t know HOW to reach out in a way that doesn’t feel slimy, it’s no wonder you find a bunch of other things to fill your day.
When people don’t know what to do, they tend to just do nothing - they freeze with fear. And instead of facing that fear and conquering it, they find every possible distraction so they never quite get to making those DREADED calls.
And given the challenges in the market right now, it’s extra easy to say “it’s just not a time to be building business” but this is not true and that’s just another excuse.
The cost of not doing anything is unbelievable and this is especially true right now.
Fight Fear with Forethought, Plans and Clarity
My clients tell me when they have a CLEAR PLAN on who they should be reaching out to, more importantly - what the heck to say when they do, they are excited to start reaching out. They talk about how they have confidence in their marketing and they can’t wait to start connecting with the people they want to work with.
Because they know what to say and are solid on why they’re the BEST choice for the people they want to serve.
It’s like turning on the lights at the end of that scary movie and remembering that the fear is artificial. Once you have clarity and you’re in the light, the scary things just disappear. So next time plan ahead and just leave the dang light on when you’re watching that scary movie!
