We all have one! We have a comfort zone in our families, when relaxing, the food we enjoy and without any doubt - in business. The prospects we reach out to with our marketing including promotional items, advertising messages, civic activities and virtually everything else, especially referrals, will tend to be heavily influenced by your comfort zone.
While each may be totally different, there is one aspect of what a comfort zone will be based on in business, is that we all want to work with people just like us! Many promotional products media professionals will specialize in working with clients and prospects in industries they are familiar with or were previously in. College educated people seek out clients with similar credentials. Athletic sales people are most comfortable around clients with similar interests.
By far the most common factor of a comfort zone is age. Young people like to sell to people their own age who use the same demeaning slang (swag, chotskies, CPS, etc.) and enjoy the same activities. Their “small talk” will have many common points of interest.
At the other end of the age spectrum, older sales people (consultants, counselors, marketing pros, etc.) will be most at ease sharing and reminiscing with people who have accumulated real world knowledge.
Also having an impact on where people are most comfortable in business communication is a feeling by the older group that the younger people don’t know they are in the marketing business and think they just sell stuff. The younger bunch see their older counterparts as “old school”.
The reality of the marketplace is that 94% of independent business owners are NOT in the “younger” demographic! Different business and marketing organizations may have a point or two different stats but they are all just about the same. Business owners under 34 years old number only 6% of the marketplace. 35 to 43 years old make up 43% and 55 years old owners are more than half the marketplace at 51%.
The obvious take-away from this is that the under 34 year old comfort zone could add significant income if they found out a bit more about the rest of the marketplace!
Current business is only one of the reasons to expand your comfort zone. Everyone who has been in business for a few years has experienced having a good account move staff around or otherwise terminate the relationship you have had with your “buyer”. This happens far more often with younger staff members moving up or moving on. Stretching your comfort zone to include 96% more clients will go a long way to giving your business stability.
Years ago when promotional products media was a growing profit center for my commercial printing company, I had already experienced attrition in my printing customers. I decided to reach out to prospects that had a greater chance of being a long term contact. As a result, I found that I was talking to business people considerably older than I was at the time. Some of the prospects I met with had children older than I was!
Gaining credibility was work. A well positioned (VP of beverage div,) exec at a national grocery chain did a bit of mentoring for me. I had asked what I needed to do or learn to move out of my comfort zone when selling to “older” prospects. The most critical information he gave me was “Stop selling and help your client buy”. That gem was followed by “Always know the current marketplace and how it impacts the client”.
Without the Internet as a tool back then, I subscribed to the weekly business newspaper and tried to have enough current business information to handle a conversation. I learned that business owners and senior execs were all about ROI and how promotional products media would deliver their marketing messages with greater impact and lower investment, but just discussing the price would not get the job done.
An interesting aspect of moving your comfort zone is that when you get referrals, they will usually be for contacts in your client’s comfort zone! The future is always headed your way. You might as well already be well positioned in it!
Gregg Emmer managed Kaeser & Blair’s marketing, catalog publishing and vendor relations for more than 30 years. Prior to arriving at K&B in 1991 he owned and operated a graphic communication company featuring promotional products and full service printing. Today Emmer’s consulting work provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of businesses including promotional industry suppliers, venture capital and market research companies. If you are interested in growing your business (or privately commenting on articles) contact Gregg at gregg.promopro@gmail.com.