Conrey is for Closers

Disuse atrophy of muscles (muscle atrophy) and bones, with loss of mass and strength, can occur after prolonged immobility, such as extended bedrest, or having a body part in a cast (living in darkness for the eye, bedridden for the legs etc.). This type of atrophy can usually be reversed with exercise unless severe. Astronauts in microgravity must exercise regularly to minimize atrophy of their limb muscles.

From Wikipedia

In the course of recording Don’t Sell Me Bro last week, we interviewed Andia Winslow – US Olympic hopeful in the Skeleton and someone who is looking to get her business off the ground. Coming from an athletic background she dropped a great term on us – Business Disuse Atrophy.

Much like the muscle atrophy above, your business skills will lose mass and strength. It’s easy to get away with taking some time off from selling when business is good, your future work schedule is stacked up and you’re no longer worried about paying rent next month.

However, just like your endurance wanes when sitting on the couch watching sports instead of playing them, your sales skills will get rusty just the same. Some simple steps to keep this from happening to you:

1. Educate Yourself: My guess is if you are here you’re already doing some of this. But read about your craft, read about what you want to get better at, take a class, read things that don’t seem necessarily related but tax your brain. Give yourself the chance to learn something that you can apply to your business and try something new.
2. Schedule Your Workout: Take some time on your calendar every week to do sales related tasks. Block a couple of hours for prospecting, a couple of hours for reconnecting with past clients, and even some time for checking on deals you thought were dead. Put that time on your calendar as an appointment with yourself and keep that appointment!
3. Get a Coach: When you want to take your game up to the next level, you’ll have to have someone push you beyond what you think are your limits. A coach or trainer in the gym will push, yell, bribe, and pull you to your best workout, so why not in business? Have a coworker partner with you on this, where you’ll work to hold each other accountable to getting better. Work by yourself? Get a fellow solo entrepreneur to have lunch with once a week and check in on each other. If you can’t do that, find a group online to start this process

Keep your business muscles worked out and they’ll be there when you need them.