Just Shoot the Skeet Already!

One of the things that I enjoy is teaching people - especially young people - how to shoot: trapping, skeet or sporting clays. I had an opportunity with my nephew not too long ago to introduce him to the sport. 

We at the firm have been doing quite a lot of sales training in the last 12 months. And, not surprisingly, there have been plenty of young-ish people in the workshops. Many of these young professionals had received no previous sales training.

I found myself in a familiar pattern teaching my nephew. After the safety briefing and a description of the basics and a demonstration – a box worth – I had him take several shots – a box worth – just to get used to it. Then, we started going over the basics: positioning the feet, grip on the gun, positioning the gun before the pull, movement of the gun, and follow through. After every few shots we would stop and I would give him feedback and encouragement. After the 2nd box he was hitting over 50% from an easy trap position. After that he kept getting better –until his shoulder started hurting!

Oh another point: My nephew’s father – a good guy, father, and husband – has a management style that goes something like "Just hit it!" Just hit it!"

So, what's the connection? We keep getting reminded that you cannot manage results. You can NOT manage results on the shooting range and you can't manage sales results. All you can manage are the activities that will create the results.

When you have a "new" salesperson, you should keep four points in mind as you manage, train and coach. Click here to download this article and get those four points. Share it with your team. Let me know if you'd like to talk about managing activity to get results.