You Must Take Risks to Be Successful
“A lot of successful people are risk-takers. Unless you’re willing to do that – to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won’t happen.” – Phillip Adams.
I believe it was the winter of 1982. My wife and I had recently moved into a modest northwest suburban house which I thought was the ultimate, end of the world residence. I was a quite naïve having grown up in a lower middle class working household in Chicago
I was not yet a successful salesperson selling residential security systems for ADT Security Systems (before it became a TYCO company). Although I have two college degrees, I was in a beginning sales position out of sheer necessity to survive the last great recession.
I drove a very small yellow Subaru station wagon I commandeered from my wife because it had optional four wheel drive. I bought it with her just a week prior to her giving birth to our daughter.
I approached a “monster” of a house in Lake Forest, Illinois. I can only describe the size by saying our house could fit on its circular driveway. And there I was my little yellow “bug” like car!
So instead of turning left into the driveway, I turned right at the next street. I was clearly intimidated by what lay ahead. I found a small park and pulled into the parking lot. Afraid to burn too much gas, I turned off the engine. My legs began to shake from the cold as the inside of the car cooled off.
A thought crept into my head as I shook. It was from a training session at the now gone World Trade Center. This was ADT’s headquarters when I trained there during the summer of 1981. An instructor told me me no matter what challenge I faced, I would always know more about residential security that the people I would talk to.
With that in mind, I semi-confidently started my car and drove to the house. I was greeted by a rather wealthy man clad in a very down to earth flannel shirt and corduroy pants. He turned out to be a very nice guy who grew up in a middle class family and made his wealthy by buying several fast food burger restaurants in a major chain. We easily communicated. Eventually I sold him one of the largest residential systems I had sold up to that date, about $5,000.
Was I intimidated? Yes, of course. Did I let it stand in my way? Yes, but only temporarily. Within a year I led our entire office in residential sales results and bested the long time leader, some time trainer and personal rival.
Are you intimidated by doing business on the Web? I know how challenging it it for I was also intimidated. But you must face an inevitable migration to mass shopping on the Web by your customers and potential clients. Although the Web has its allure, the amount of information and delivery speed is unnerving. As is the amount of misinformation. Couple this with the need for instant gratification and we do away with most door to door selling which included teaching and explaining. This is akin to how the automobile and the interstate highway system led to society’s sprawl and changed the nuclear family.
In a short while I will no longer be selling security systems. Although I was never a cold caller, I will miss the everyday face to face relationship. Instead I wish to help you navigate the tricky path to the knowledge to learn how to successfully promote your business on the Web using free Social Media marketing tools. I can help eliminate some of your fears of the unknown. Together we can face the risk and stop knees from shaking as I did alone those many years ago.
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Tags: Risk Taking
