How to Step Outside of Your
Comfort Zone and Sell Faster,
Better, Smarter…
Caroline Cummings
VP of Biz Dev & Sales
Palo Alto Software
Comfort Zone =
A type of mental
conditioning that causes a
person to create and
operate mental boundaries
Comfort Zones
Define Us
What’s it look like?
Fear
Comfort
Zone
# 5 Deep Water
# 4 Financial Problems
# 3 Insects and Bugs
# 2 Heights
# 1 Public speaking
Comfort
Zone
Public
Speaking
Making
Cold
Calls
Toast
Masters
Starting
A Vlog
A Healthy
Dose of Anxiety
Anxiety can improve
performance…
…but, if you step beyond
your optimum performance
zone…
Danger Zone
Danger Zone
As levels of anxiety or
discomfort increase to high
levels – performance can
decline rapidly
Traveling to Cairo
During Social
Unrest…
If you don’t step out of your
comfort zone
you WILL miss opportunities
How to do it?
Unleash Your Inner Hero
Defending the
Underdog
Convince in Style
Kick Ass
Take Names
Don’t sell…
Enchant !!
“Enchantment
transforms situations
and relationships.
It converts hostility
into civility.
It reshapes civility
into affinity.
It changes skeptics
and cynics into
believers.”
If you don’t step out of your
comfort zone
you WILL miss opportunities
Opportunities like:
Raising funds
Winning customers
Recruiting talent
Landing partnerships
Getting promotions
…
4 Tips for Winning
Sales
Tip #1
Never make a
cold call!!
 Due diligence
 Media mentions
 Linkedin profiles
 Interests
 Competitors
 Think quality not quantity
Tip #2
View a “No” as
an opportunity
Negotiations
Open…
Fail Fast
or
Scale Fast
Tip #3
Find a Minimum
Viable Partnership
Tip #4
One way I am going
to step outside of my
comfort zone is by
_________________.
How to Step Outside of Your
Comfort Zone and Sell Faster,
Better, Smarter…
Caroline Cummings
VP of Biz Dev & Sales
Palo Alto Software

Stepping outside your comfort zone self promo sales