Gibsonia Gazette

Do The Thing You Fear November 22, 2010

If there is a phrase that I have tried to live by throughout my professional life, it is those five words in the headline.  That phrase is the only takeaway I remember from a sales training program I took as a “rookie” salesperson in the broadcasting industry a few decades ago.

Those five words have gotten me through some trying times, and have been the underlying reason for most of my successes.  That training course, developed by an insurance salesperson, was spread out over eight weeks and a total of 16 hours.  In retrospect, it was worth every minute.

During my first year in sales, I worked at a small UHF TV station in Philly, before cable had come to the city and when UHF penetration was only about 20% of the market.  I made a “cold call” on an automobile dealer, situated adjacent to the elevated train tracks in a tough neighborhood of Philadelphia;  the same neighborhood depicted in the “Rocky” movies.  I walked in the door, asked to see the owner. He happened to be standing in the showroom, so I walked over and introduced myself.  This gentleman was an imposing figure about 4 inches taller than me, whose name was Bob.

As I calmly informed him that I was there to discuss TV advertising with him, he literally grabbed me by my suit jacket and “escorted” me out of his showroom, telling me that he wasn’t interested in hearing anything I had to say.  I walked to my car, shaking from head to toe from anger and humiliation, and sat there for about 15 minutes while I tried to calm down.  As I began to feel calmer, I thought, “If I could do that call all over again, what would I do differently?”  Not walking in the door was not an option in this process.

The next morning at 8:30AM I arrived back at the same dealership, and sat in the showroom nervously awaiting Bob’s arrival.  When he arrived at 9AM I walked up to him and reintroduced myself saying “it seems like you were a bit preoccupied when I visited yesterday.”  Bob just looked at me with that expression that says, “Are you out of your @#*@#+# mind??”  He then began to laugh and invited me into his office to talk.  Two months later Bob began the first television advertising campaign he had ever done.  And, we became friends as well as business associates.

This is but one graphic example of what can happen when you “Do the thing you fear”.  Believe me I was not cool and collected when I arrived at Bob’s showroom that second morning.  However, as I sat in my car trying to calm down the day before, I began to think of that phrase, “Do the thing you fear”.  I realized that there was nothing more that Bob could do to me after what he had done that day.  He couldn’t physically injure me or kill me, despite the tough Philadelphia neighborhood.  The worst he could do was throw me out again and I already knew how that felt.

If I had never gone back to that store, I would never have had the opportunity to make Bob a customer and a friend.  And, I would never have had the opportunity to help bring one of the first local automobile advertisers in Philadelphia to television.

Does it always work? No it doesn’t, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.  People who are willing to take the risk and overcome their fears are never in a position to wonder about what could have been.

On another important topic, here’s a link to a blog by Steve Tobak about employee and management engagement and how changing the way you see or react to things can make a difference.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/10-workplace-rules-of-engagement/6086?promo=713&tag=nl.e713