Do you want to get to another level? Then take a risk. If you always stay within your comfort zone emotionally you will stunt your growth professionally as a sales person. We avoid things we are afraid of. The reason we avoid doing certain things is not because of the “danger” inherent in the action, but the perceived problems that will befall us if we take the action. We are not afraid of actually asking for a referral. We are afraid of the consequences we imagine that will accompany the ask. We might be afraid the client will see us as presumptuous, or pushy, or too salesy. We might be afraid that they will reject us. We fear the imagined consequences of asking. Here is how growth works. You face the fear and do something you have been avoiding. You get a result. Most likely what you are afraid of does not happen. There is no rejection. The client gives you a referral or explains that as much as they would like to give you one, they don’t know the type of people you are asking to be referred to. You notice that the stuff you feared the most either never happened or was not as bad as you imagined it would be. The next time you think of asking for a referral the fear is not as bad as it was the first time. The same result occurs. Eventually you realize that there is nothing to fear in asking for a referral and it is a natural part of your sales process. Most of your work starts to come by referral which is a much easier way to sell. Your pipeline and your income grow and you are at a new level and ready to get out of your comfort zone again to get to the next level.
