Comfort Zones can be both good and bad. When they restrict growth they can be considered negative. Simple because you become less effective. Taking things for granted or taking the easy way out will take away your effectiveness. A sure sign that you are comfortable or face a slump, malaise, plateau is Procrastination.

So how do you know when you are procrastinating?
1. You use the same tactic all the time to avoid doing something or acting on something.
2. You don’t see change.
3. You are always waiting for something to happen.

Here are the negative effects of Procrastination.

a. There is no emotional growth.
b. Over adaptation – fear of going after own goals with the result being subvert your goals to others.
c. Prospects ask you to do something and you agree. You over adapt to help.
d. You become impulsive – which has nothing to do with decision making. The other danger is impulse has nothing to do with an intellectual process.

Next week, look for the danger signs. We will talk about how to break out of your comfort zone. Hint: (Be prepared to understand failure in a new light).

Is a Comfort Zone a good or bad thing?

I have listed below eleven problems that can occur on a sales meeting or during your sales day. The good news is all are fixable. However, if you consistently face these issues you may want to consider coaching.

1. Having “No Shows” for appointments

2. Making great presentations to people who then say “I want to think it over”

3. Meeting with people who are doing three other tasks simultaneously

4. Leaving a meeting without a clear next step

5. Leaving a meeting wondering “what did we just decide?”

6. Running out of time in the day to do your high impact behaviors

7. Having prospects expecting a presentation

8. Showing up for a meeting with three new people you have never seen before

9. Being hung up on while telephone prospecting

10. Feeling pressure to say everything you know in 10 minutes

11. Getting mad at prospects because they didn’t do what you thought, or hoped, they would do

Too many business owner and sales managers are focused on sales peoples’ results, not their activity. I realize sales results, bottom line, increasing revenues is important but when it come to managing sales people, you are working on the wrong end of the problem. Don’t manage quotas, manage behavior. After all, how can you control which prospect is going to become your customer? If you knew your salespeople were on track this month for the number of dials, appointments, “clear futures,” sales and yes, even “no’s”, that it takes to be successful in your business, then you would spend less time worrying about your salespeople’s production and more time managing what you can control, his behavior. Manage What You Can Control, Not What You Can’t. © 2004 Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Suppose, for a moment, that you are a salesperson or business owner. You’ve been working on an excellent new prospect for several months. If your sales manager or business partner were to ask you how the deal was progressing, you might say, “Pretty well. I’m very hopeful.”

Then you check your voice mail five times a day, hoping for the go-ahead. Finally, you recognize the voice of your prospect. Your heart skips a beat. He says, “Hi. It’s Bill from ABC Company. I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you, but it’s just been SO hectic around here. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that, at this time, we’ve decided not to go with you. You did a great job with the proposal, but I’ve been working with these other folks for a so long that I’ve decided not to change things. Thanks for your time. I’m sure we’ll talk again.”

How do you feel right now?

Some of you aren’t feeling too badly. You’re not happy, of course, but your general reaction might be, “Well, at least Bill’s nice enough to let me know where he stands. Most would just leave me hanging forever. And besides, it doesn’t mean we’ll never do business.” Within a few hours, maybe less, you’re pretty much over it.

Others of you, on the other hand, feel as if the rug were just pulled out from under you. You’re thinking, “What am I gonna do now? I was counting on that deal. Where did I go wrong? Is it me?” You can’t get yourself to pick up the phone to call another prospect for several days, which you spend shuffling papers around your desk.

If you handled this scenario without too much disappointment – congratulations. You have learned one of the toughest lessons in the world of selling. You have separated your role as a salesperson from your core identity – your self-image. Success or failure of any one deal cannot diminish who you are as a person. You’ve learned not to take it personally.

Those of you who stumbled – don’t be too hard on yourself. Most people react this way at some point in their careers, especially early on. Here’s the good news: You can develop new ways of thinking and feeling. It takes time and practice. Having personally been through that transition, I can tell you that it is an empowering experience.

Now here’s a key lesson for all of you, regardless of your reaction to the scenario: YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Your selling process, or perhaps your lack of a selling process, put you there. You could have known what it would take to separate Bill from his current vendor, or that nothing you could say or do would do the trick. You could have known exactly how and when he would make his decision. You didn’t need to be waiting by the phone for his call. You might have even decided NOT to do the proposal in the first place, saving you money and time. You could have avoided hoping, wishing, expecting, and ultimately being disappointed.

With the proper selling process, you won’t win them all. But you never have to be disappointed again.