I remember where I was about 20+ years ago when I was selling products and services valued from $1,000 and higher.
My manager, Steve from Walnut Creek, California, and I stood in the parking lot at 930pm. Steve said, "Rick, you have everything it takes to do well in the sales industry...and you will...as soon as you believe in yourself".
Steve was partly right. I did believe in myself, but there was something missing. And that missing piece haunted me until 2013 when a life situation forced me stop looking at the boogeyman that was never there.
It was November 1, 2014, when I officially launched 321 Biz Development. It was this date when I figured out I had lost so much money in new business because I did not have a sales system.
The boogeyman must be dealt with sooner or later.
What is this boogeyman?
Since November 1, 2014, I learned that the boogeyman only existed because I never had a sales system. Without a sales system for the first 15 years, my boogeyman told me that I could not succeed because small business owners would yell at me for asking them to buy more products and services.
And when I did have appointments with prospects, the boogeyman created such a fear in my spirit that business owner prospects sensed the following misconceptions:
I had little belief in my products and services...when I actually did.
My products and services did not deliver results...when they actually could.
Buyers would not be in a better position after the purchase...when they actually would.
And to make the boogeyman larger than life, I often attended pricey, out-of-town motivational seminars where I was so confident about myself during the seminars.
Just when I believed I had escaped the boogeyman's debilitating stranglehold, about 72 hours after the seminar, the boogeyman reappeared to put me in the same fearful mindset I had before attending the motivational seminar.
Using motivational seminars to crush the boogeyman cost me approximately $30,000 in tickets, flights and hotel accommodation over 15 years.
On November 1, 2014, when I could no longer settle for poor sales performance excuses and outcomes, I started 321 Biz Development.
What I discovered is my boogeyman syndrome was self-induced.
Social media marketing: how business owners try to cope with the boogeyman syndrome
Between years 2010 and 2012, I tried to remove the boogeyman by using Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
My thought was social media could introduce insurance and real estate services to prospects to "grow my business". Little did I realize that these social media platforms, especially LinkedIn, had thousands of other financial professionals and real estate agents promoting their services too.
The day hoping social media could cure my boogeyman syndrome came to a crashing halt when I discovered business owners using social media are not friendly to other business owners on social media. Being unfriendly is an understatement.
Social media platforms create the illusion that consumers are very motivated by digital advertising.
After the B2B social media epiphany, starting around 2013, 321 Biz Dev began contacting business owners using the phone and engaging people in face-to-face setting, just like I did in my corporate job about 15 years ago.
To anyone reading this article or listening to the podcast episode, giving the boogeyman permission to control your business is blocking many new prospects and clients from using your products and services.
This is our first blog article and podcast episode for 2023.
Now is not the time to allow small items to present huge obstacles to your business growth.
321 Biz Development has a 6-9 hour sales system and business development training program to help small business owners remove the boogeyman from their businesses.
Thanks for reading this article and listening to this podcast episode.
Rick Nappier, President
321 Biz Development