“Successful people make the habit of doing on a daily basis the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.” -Albert E. N. Gray

This quote was part of a talk entitled “The “Common Denominator Of Success”, that Mr. Gray, who was with Prudential, gave at the 1940 NALU convention in Philadelphia. It is as true today as it was in 1940.

While there are many habits that successful sales people do on a daily basis none are more important than prospecting. Prospecting is not simply part of sales. IT IS SALES.

While marketing and advertising are helpful there is nothing that can produce results quicker than picking up the phone and calling people to determine if they need or want what it is you sell.

We have trained hundreds of Financial Planners, Life Insurance Agents, Property and Casualty Agents, Stock Brokers and other Sales Professionals. In most cases their number one problem was that they were not consistently in front of enough new people daily. This was because they did not implement and execute an effective prospecting plan.

According to the science of neurolinguistic programming, as much as 83% of the communicated message on the phone is the use of tonality. Tonality has to do with rate of speech, volume, pacing, pitch, and rhythm. The goal of tonality is to mirror and match (not imitate) the person you are speaking with.

For example, if you are speaking with someone who is talking a bit slower than you adjust your pace to reflect his or her pace. The voice is a tool to a salesperson just as a wrench is to a mechanic.

Learn to use this valuable tool. I have used a voice coach to both video and audio tape my phone calls and my classroom teaching. It was amazing to both listen to and watch myself. I would urge you to get a tape recorder and begin to record and debrief your phone calls.

All of us experience a “comfort zone” from time to time. This is a natural part of the human experience. That is not the problem. The problem is not recognizing or being aware or knowing what to do when we are in a comfort zone. How do we recognize and avoid the natural tendency to get stuck in a comfort zone?

Recognize The Trap

Look back over your past experiences and identify those times in your life when your performance leveled off for no apparent reason. Is there a pattern A person in a comfort zone tends to feel tense and uneasy about change, or even the thought of change. Emerson said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” You can overcome the tendency to stay trapped in a comfort zones by first recognizing it in yourself and then by observing it in others.

Analyze Your Behavior

In the past when you found yourself in a comfort zone did you push through it or did you change course to avoid the discomfort of change?

Keep An Open Mind

Remember, a hallmark of high achievers people is an open mind on all subjects, the willingness to listen carefully and patiently, without prejudgment or jumping to conclusions.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Fear of failure, of being wrong, of making a mistake keeps people from risking and trying to break out of their comfort zone. Probably 80 percent or more of adults are so worried about being wrong that they shy away from any risky situation.

Set Goals And Take Action

Develop and visualize clearly goals and objectives. Goals create passion. Without passion we become complacent and begin a downward spiral towards mediocrity. This leads to self-doubt and erosion of our self worth.

Commit To Excellence

Commit to reaching the highest levels of your potential. Each time you break through a comfort zone and achieve a higher level of performance set new goals.

Look at your comfort zone as a motivator, not a barrier. Breaking through your comfort zone leads you to higher and higher levels of accomplishment and brings exhilaration and increased self worth.

Several times recently I have had conversations with clients who were unclear about what the next step in the sales process was. Most of them seem to be leaving sales calls with unclear expectations as to what happens next and when it is to happen. This happens when you make assumptions and allow your prospects to be vague about their intentions and decisions.

To prevent this from happening, you must be able to clearly answer the question “So what happens next and when”? If you are not sure then ASK! It’s OK to ask. The rule is: NO MIND READING. Before you leave a call learn the specifics of the next step in the process, gain mutual agreement from your prospect about the next step, and then schedule a specific time to follow up on what has been agreed to. This one technique will eliminate wasted time by at least 25%.