Yesterday, Thursday, I had the pleasure of listening to Scott Latham from Bentley address almost 200 business people at the Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce Monthly Breakfast. The title of his talk was “Recession Proof Your Business”. He asked the crowd to put up their hands if they were Harry Potter fans. Then he drew his first analogy…….Remember how they talked about the villain in Harry Potter?
The villain was so powerful and so feared that it was dangerous even to say his name.
Then Scott talked about the “R” word and how all the politicians, economists, and talking heads believe that it’s dangerous to say the word “recession” as if not saying it means that it doesn’t exist.
I see this every day. Salespeople, sales managers, entrepreneurs, and business owners don’t evaluate because to evaluate might mean that they’ll identify what’s holding them back and what’s holding them back is so powerful and so feared that it’s dangerous to even say it’s name. If they don’t name the weakness that’s holding them back, then it doesn’t exist.
As my mother would say, “Yeah, right!”
Thanks, Scott!
RainMakers & Sales Rock Stars 
He Who Shall Not Be Named is an apt metaphor. I sometimes see myself slipping into a worried mindset: “If I call this person, will she feel bugged?” “Am I pushing too hard?” So many of these doubts stem from a fear of the unknown: what if the action I want to take turns out in a way I don’t want. Inspired selling is the ability to confront nameless, faceless fears and give them shape – identify them. Buyers are people; they want to believe that you are selling will fix their problem. If I’m afraid of what I’m selling, won’t they be also?