Familiarity Is the Enemy of Growth
Familiarity feels safe… but safety can quietly kill your edge.
The moment a rep gets “comfortable” with their talk track, their cadence, their pitch... that’s when growth flatlines.
Because comfort breeds autopilot. And autopilot doesn’t close deals… it maintains them.
The best in PRECISE selling know how to stay sharp by staying slightly uncomfortable. They revisit what works, not to pat themselves on the back, but to ask: “Can this still cut?”
Here’s how elite performers use discomfort as their growth engine:
Audit your patterns. If every call sounds the same, you’ve stopped adapting. Mix up your openers, your tonality, your questioning flow. Keep buyers guessing, and yourself learning.
Run deliberate experiments. Pick one small change per week. One new angle, one sharper question, one tighter close. Growth compounds through micro-tests, not massive overhauls.
Let feedback sting. The best reps don’t fear critique, they chase it. Every uncomfortable review is a shortcut to mastery.
Relearn what you already know. Great sellers revisit fundamentals like it’s day one. Because what worked last year might fail this quarter.
Comfort feels good. But precision doesn’t live there.
So, if your pitch feels easy, your follow-ups predictable, your days “routine,” you’re not stable. You’re stale.
Shake it up. Ask harder questions. Practice like you’re still proving yourself.
Growth doesn’t come from what’s familiar. It comes from what still scares you a little.
About Brian Sullivan
Brian Sullivan, CSP, is the author of 20 Days to the Top and a leading voice in sales training and development. He helps sales teams perfect their prospecting and performance with PRECISE Selling.
