You’ve probably heard the saying “No risk. No reward.” It applies to selling. What happens if you are uncomfortable with risk? It’s time to address your discomfort because in sales, no risk means there is no reward or at least it is far less likely.
What is risk?
Risk refers to the degree of uncertainty and/or potential financial loss inherent in business. Another definition of risk is the possibility of something negative happening. Risk is abundant in sales.
Making pricing decisions, whether to increase or decrease, are risky. Yes, with a price increase, you could make more money, but you could lose the business. What if you lowered your price thinking you would keep a piece of business? The risk is how it changes your margins when your profitability goes down. Every decision you make could be risky from which customer to call on to asking for a pay raise.
Are you a risk-taker?
Be aware of your own ability to take risk. Some people are inherent risk-takers. You are a risk-taker if in business you are more likely to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. Are you comfortable assuming you can do the task and are comfortable with whatever happens? You are a risk-taker.
Asking for forgiveness was my motto in business. I always thought, “Do not ask a question you do not want to hear the answer to.” Then if I never heard no, it meant I could do it. And I did!
What can you do if you are not a risk-taker? You have some work to do.
First get comfortable with risk.
The first step to get comfortable with risk is to tell yourself that you will start to be just a little more of a risk-taker. Start small. Let’s say you would not feel comfortable asking a prospect a difficult question. That difficult question could be, “What’s your budget for (the item you sell)? You’re asking to get an idea of how to price your product. You should ask in a non-threatening way. Either your customer will tell you the budget or he’ll say, “I can’t disclose that.” Be ready in that case to ask the next question.
Another way to start taking a little risk is if you aren’t comfortable showing a prospect your ignorance of a particular topic like a process in his operation. Now would be the time to risk showing your vulnerability and ask him to explain the process.
Asking a difficult question or discussing an uncomfortable topic is the first step in getting more confidence that you can be a risk-taker. Commit to something doable and significant. Even if you slip up once, you aren’t done. You’ve just learned something about yourself. Try it again in a slightly different situation to see if it works for you the next time.
Next time you face making a risky decision, force yourself to confront it. Don’t run away from it! Not doing the work to get comfortable with risk will lead to poor sales results. Mark Zuckerberg is right when he says, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” Now would be a good time to apply what Zuckerberg says to your sales.