I’m at Defrag today and tomorrow.  During today’s afternoon session Paul Kedrosky talked about an interesting affliction called FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out.  I loved listening to him talk about this. His premise was the fear of missing out was insatiable and built on itself.  Those with FOMO could be at the best, most slammin’ party and yet fear somewhere else, there is a better party they are missing. Sounds like the LA scene.

I have to admit, I’ve suffered from FOMO at times.  Typically, it’s in the area of information. FOMO made Twitter a nightmare when I first joined. I was always afraid I’d miss that one Tweet, from that one person, that would change everything. My feedreader suffers from FOMO. I used to subscribe to every good blog I read, afraid I miss the one post that would change everything. It was brutal in the beginning.  I now have a handle on Twitter, the Tweetdeck pop-up doesn’t phase me anymore.  If I miss something, who cares.  There is enough good shit out there, I’m not missing anything.  My feedreader, same thing. I don’t fret anymore.

I see FOMO in sales too.  My boy and sales guru, Anthony Iannarino has a great post today exemplifying an example of sales FOMO. Go read it. When a sales person has sales FOMO, they hold on to opportunities too long.  They spend too much time chasing accounts that will never close.  FOMO tricks our sales brains. It gets us to believe we can’t let go, that we can’t stop chasing the account, because the minute we stop, the account will be ready to buy and our competitor will get it We’ll miss out.

FOMO sucks the life out of your pipeline.  When we suffer from FOMO we don’t spend enough time on the deals and accounts we need to.  FOMO sufferers grab onto opportunities but don’t let go for fear when they do, they will miss out on the big deal.  Unfortunately, the big deal never happens.  They chase and chase, never letting go.

How do you know if your suffering from FOMO?   If your sales manager asks why your still chasing that deal and the first word out of you mouth is . . . “I’m afraid that . . . ” you suffer from FOMO.  When fear enters the sales process there is the possibility you have been inflicted with FOMO.

FOMO is a time suck and an opportunity destroyer.  To avoid FOMO, bust your ass and pay attention to what is important and real. I promise your not missing out!