We all have horror stories to tell from our experiences. One of my worst was my first official business development role when the big consulting firm I worked for put me in charge of one of our largest UK accounts.

I'd been a very successful consultant – and had learned to sell effectively in that consulting role.

But as an account manager I was hopeless.

Like many professionals, I was great once I was in a face to face meeting with potential clients.

I just couldn't get enough of those meetings.

I really hated phoning or even emailing my contacts, trying to set up meetings to “explore how we might work together for mutual benefit” (= pitch our services). It felt incredibly uncomfortable: pushy and salesy.

So I hardly made any calls. And I hardly got any sales.

I was in real trouble for a while. But then – pretty much by accident – I noticed something a little bit weird. Something that gave me the confidence to call potential clients and which made them enthusiastic to take my calls – and even to start calling me.

You can grab a copy of the Pain Free Marketing Blueprint where I explain what I did to turn things round here:

Pain Free Marketing Blueprint »