Eggs, Baskets, and Becoming a Change Junkie

In the spirit of the season, we're moving some of our eggs to a new basket.

One of my mentors told me, repeatedly, that "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten."  I guess she had to repeat it because my skull is 99% concrete, about 3 inches thick, and houses a tiny little brain that, by design, doesn't particularly care for change.

I'll start by saying that I'm extremely happy with what we've always gotten, but I want more. Lots more.

Well, for the last (almost) nine years, I have run a company that does B2B Marketing & Sales on an outsourced basis for large Office Supply and Telecommunications companies.  We've even managed to get pretty darn good at it - acquiring over 75000 new accounts and expanding to have offices all over the US.

Because of our track record, we've been approached over the years to take on new clients.  We have succeeded with some, failed with other, and straight up passed on a few that were just plain weird. (No, thank you, we don't want to sell XXX website memberships or adult "novelties" door to door residentially.)

We were approached with a new opportunity in November of last year that was a total change for us.  After years of outside sales, a major player in the Satellite TV industry approached us about taking on the challenge of selling and marketing their service to existing customers in big box retail establishments -- BIG, big box retail establishments -- literally the biggest in the world.

We decided to try it.  It was, as to be expected, uncomfortable.  We never pictured ourselves -- sharp, college-educated, motivated, professionals -- standing in these BIG BIG big box retail establishments talking to customers. We felt out of place, awkward, and just plain out of sorts. But, keeping my mentor's words in mind, we pressed on.

We started in November with three stores, moved up to 7 in January, and we just got word that we have the ability to expand to 25 stores JUST in Atlanta with potential to grow exponentially extremely quickly.  As it stands now, our new retail program has potential to be the most profitable we've ever pursued -- and to think,  we almost passed on it.

So, in the spirit of the season, I encourage to you think outside the box - push yourself to try something new - to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  You never know - it just might kick-start your success.

Adam the Easter Bunny - from a 2007 contest. It's like a giant pink nightmare.