FEAR: The Ultimate Career Killer

I originally did this post on ActiveRain in January 2008 based on this online discussion: http://www.salespractice.com/forums/t-7921-2.html#post30207

The question posed in the discussion is this:  Here’s the situation: you are a new agent with no contacts or sphere of influence but you have identified 50 people that you want to talk with about the chance of doing business together. What prospecting or lead generation method would be the most effective or efficient?

The discussion includes a couple of blurbs about cold calling, including what I’m sure you’ve heard a million times:  Cold calling doesn’t work. If someone tells you cold calling doesn’t work, consider the source.

I find that cold-calling generally doesn’t work when the person doing the cold-calling isn’t committed to it. Your most successful long-term agents have used cold calling with success in their career.  As a real estate coach, I’ve also found that most agents who are indecisive about cold calling are afraid of it. Afraid of rejection, no matter how anonymous it may be.  Fear is the career killer.

By the same token, if you don’t like cold calling but have found an alternative that gives you the results you need, I can’t argue with results

An episode of Celebrity Apprentice from sometime back comes to mind.  The job was to raise money for charity selling hot dogs…with a $10,000 price tag.   While the other celebrities argued and waxed philosophic about the best way to do it, Gene Simmons of KISS started making phone calls and was honest with the people he called.  “I want you to buy a hot dog for $10,000.  Yes, it’s for charity.”   Nothing fancy and no “sexy” hook…just the truth.

While the others argued, he raised somewhere around $60,000 himself, which was more than the others combined.
There’s a great lesson to be learned here…don’t let fear guide your actions.   Fear wastes time, fear leads to poor decisions and fear loses you money.

The best way to prospect?  Whatever you do, just DO it. Cold call, knock on doors, shake hands and pass out cards.  For crying out loud…ask for referrals.   Just tell people what you do for a living and you’re trying to meet as many new people as possible.  It works.  Yes, you will experience some rejection.  Not everyone wants to meet you.  No problem.  There are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who are your potential client base.
If you spend too much time mulling things over and not enough time just getting it done, those people will become someone else’s clients.

In the above example, the fear is obvious.  50 potential clients have been identified, but the agent is afraid to approach them.  It happens every day.

Whatever method you choose, just do it.