Dave: This is an interesting question. Everyone’s comfort zone is different. If you are comfortable inside your zone and are obtaining the results you want, it may not be a problem. However, if you are not hitting your objectives, you will need to expand that zone. And from your question, I get the impression you have that very need.
Note I did not indicate for you to go outside your comfort zone. If you look at it from an expansion standpoint, you are more likely to achieve longer-term results. If you step outside your zone and do something, but you recognize that this is making you uncomfortable, you are not likely to do it again unless you achieve immediate results.
On the other hand, if you expand your zone so that you are undertaking tasks that are comfortable, you're likely to repeat those activities more often. This requires building upon what you already are comfortable doing. In this way your behavior is more likely to change in the long run.
If you are comfortable making calls to those you know, but are not comfortable making cold calls, making some cold calls and getting a few wins is not likely to make you a regular cold caller. On the other hand, if you call those you know and ask for referrals to portions of their sphere—let’s say an email introduction—this activity represents an expansion of an activity you are already undertaking.
For example, in one case you might be going online to identify a financial planner and then cold calling them to introduce yourself. In the second case you might be calling your best friend and asking if they know a financial planner. If the answer is yes, you could ask them to send an email introduction. You now follow up with a call, which has been “warmed-up” through an activity you were already undertaking. This is referred to as “warming-up a cold call.”
There are many other examples I might give, as we are not only talking about cold-calling. However, I would always contend that you are more likely to be comfortable with this expansion of your present comfort zone as opposed to tackling something completely outside that zone.
Dave Hershman is Senior VP of Sales of Weichert Financial and the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School – the online choice for expert mortgage learning and marketing content. His site is www.OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
