Lesson 1 (Sample)

Everyone who works on business development encounters obstacles. To mention a few: There is competition. There is the challenge of opening doors with new contacts. There is the challenge of establishing credibility. Your prospects may not perceive a need for your services. And, you may not always have time to develop business.

But, one of the most formidable obstacles to business development is worry. There are many things you may worry about. These issues are posted on our website at: www.kohncommunications/obstacles.com. Most business development worries fall into two main categories:

  1. That you will be judged harshly by others
  2. That your business development efforts will be unsuccessful

Worry is harmful to your business development effort for two main reasons. First, worry stops you from taking action. If you are worried that someone will judge you harshly or that a task will be unsuccessful, then you won’t want to take action.

Second, worry interferes with your ability to be effective in building business relationships. If you are worried that a prospect is judging you harshly, then you will feel self-conscious and defensive. You will be distracted from your main objective which is to understand the needs of the prospect, and to communicate your ability to provide value.

In order to stay in your comfort zone, you must eliminate your feelings of worry. If you can do this, you will be more comfortable and more effective.

The lessons in this tutorial are designed to help you increase your level of comfort with business development by helping you reduce your feelings of worry. The first step is to identify the things you are worried about. By identifying your worries, you open the door to finding solutions that keep in your comfort zone.

Assignment – Identify the things that worry you about Business Development:

Review the list of common reasons for discomfort. Then, print out the “Reasons for Discomfort” worksheet™. Bring to mind a business development task that you have been considering but postponing because of discomfort. Identify the reason for your discomfort (what worries you about the task) and write it down. Do this for several tasks.

Provide as much detail about your reasons for discomfort as possible. The more detail you provide, the more you will be able to identify solutions later in this tutorial.

Click for an example of a filled-out worksheet.