I've been talking a lot this week with people who are really in their comfort zone so this article is timely. The thing I've discovered is that most of the time, our comfort zone is pretty uncomfortable...or rather the consequences or outcomes of staying in a comfort zone actually make us much more uncomfortable than if we took the "get out of the comfort zone" steps. What do you think?

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Outside the Marketing Comfort Zone
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Last week I stated that "there are no marketing breakthroughs
inside the comfort zone."

When you are stuck in the marketing comfort zone, by definition,
you will avoid doing *anything* that is uncomfortable. And so the
*only* way to get outside of the comfort zone is by taking actions
that make you uncomfortable.

I know that's bad news.

What you probably wanted to hear was that you could get outside
the comfort zone by doing something that was different, but still
comfortable. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

One of the dictionary definitions of discomfort is, "a state of
mental unease; worry or embarrassment." Yes, that's pretty
much how you'll feel when you step outside your comfort zone.

Mostly, the unease, worry or embarrassment is that you'll make a
fool of yourself, get rejected or fail. And since nobody wants to
feel that way, the best alternative is to simply avoid the
discomfort at all costs.

Yet people do step outside of the comfort zone all the time. They
take risks, do things that might not work, face rejection and
embarrassment and somehow live to tell the tale.

How do they do that?

Very simple. They realize that the cost of staying comfortable, the
cost of inaction is much, much higher than the cost of taking
action and being momentarily uncomfortable.

Let me contrast a marketing activity to make my point.

Comfortable: Not making follow-up calls.

Uncomfortable: Making follow-up calls.

Cost of not making follow-up calls: Failure to make a business
connection, failure to turn a prospect into a client, failure to grow
your business, failure to make a difference.

Cost of making follow-up calls: Feel uncomfortable with the
thought of possible rejection.

Doesn't that put things into better perspective?

Blinded by our momentary fear, we don't take action, despite the
fact that the long-term consequences are astronomically higher
than the short-term discomfort.

However, when you look at the real cost of action or inaction,
things look very different. The price of inaction then seems
extraordinarily high compared to the price of taking a risk.

And this is what creates breakthroughs, these shifts in
perspective.

Here's a simple exercise that can literally create such a shift,
resulting in a marketing breakthrough.

1. List all the marketing activities that you are now avoiding.
The test is that just thinking about doing these things makes you
feel uncomfortable, uneasy or worried.

2. Now create three columns, one titled "Imaginary Cost," the
second titled, "Real Cost," the third titled "Potential Payoff." Do
this exercise with just one marketing activity at a time such as
giving a presentation, writing an eZine, or making follow-up calls.

3. In column one, "Imaginary Costs," you'd write all the things
that might happen if you took a risk: "People might laugh at me,
I wouldn't do a very good job, the response would be poor."

These are imaginary costs, as you really have no proof any of
these would happen, you just fear that they might happen.

4. In column two, "Real Costs," you'd write all the things that will
definitely happen if you don't take action: "People won't hear
about my services, I won't make any impression, people won't be
talking about my services, people won't have the chance to
respond."

These are real costs, because it's easy to see that if you don't take
some action, nothing will happen.

5. In column three, "Potential Payoff," you now write all the
positive things that could possibly happen if you took action:
"People might respond and make inquiries about my services,
they might talk to others, they might set up appointments with
me, they might even become clients."

It's easy to see that these potential payoffs are much more real
than the imaginary costs.

If you do this exercise honestly, you'll have a shift in perspective;
you'll start to see that avoidance is actually more uncomfortable
and more costly in the long run than taking action.

And you'll see that the discomfort of taking action is so much
safer, so much easier than the "comfort" of avoiding action.

And when that happens, I promise you'll start having marketing
breakthroughs that were once impossible.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: The comfort zone is relative. When
looked at though our fears and aversions, it seems crazy for us to
take actions that would make us uncomfortable. But when we look
at the real cost of inaction, we see that those consequences are
infinitely more uncomfortable and costly. In that light, it will be
relatively easy to take action on things you may have been
avoiding for years.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.