We're Talking About Practice

We all know that if you want to be good at anything you need to practice … sorry Allen Iverson (Google it).

When I started in sales 20 years ago we basically practiced in front of customers. At some point role plays started even though pretty much everyone hated doing it. Why? Because it wasn’t anything like the game. My friend and former colleague, Lori McCluskey , termed the phrase “Real Play” because we tried to make it as real life as we could, which was better but still not perfect.

During my visit to Denver a few months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting ????Jonathan Mahan . Our brief conversation about how enablement is approaching sales practice has been on my mind ever since. He asked why is it that sales enablement approaches practice differently than athletes, musicians, pilots and many others.

Consider a basketball player - they don't train by simply playing full-length scrimmages over and over. Instead, they work on specific skills: passing drills, shooting practice, speed and agility training. The point being, breaking down the game into individual elements yields far better results. This is true of musicians as well and as someone who has played both the piano and trumpet, as well as played basketball and ran cross country and track, I understand.

In sales, we need to shift our mindset when it comes to how we engage in practice. The way we role play needs an overhaul. Traditional role-playing of entire sales calls is better than no practice, but honing in on specific sales skills can dramatically improve performance. Airlines pilots don’t train by taking off, flying at cruising altitude and then landing. Instead they are given very specific situations that might occur in real life and they pull out their checklists and practice for that scenario.

By breaking down the sales process into its component parts, we can focus on fine-tuning each skill separately. Here are a few sales 'drills' to consider:

1. ?????????????????? ???????????????? - Practice concise, articulate responses to common objections. It's all about speed and reflex here.
2. ???????????? ?????????????????? - It's more than just hearing the words. Hone your active listening skills, practicing summarizing and validating what your prospect is saying. It’s like a game of "Telephone," but you actually need to get the message right!
3. ?????????? ???????????????????????????? - Drill your value proposition. Can you deliver a clear, compelling statement that speaks to your prospect's needs in under 30 seconds?
4. ?????????????????????? ???????????????????? - Effective questioning is an art. Practice asking open-ended, probing questions that elicit meaningful responses from your prospects.
5. ?????????????? ?????????? - This one's a biggie. Work on showing empathy to your prospect's challenges. Can you walk a mile in their shoes and genuinely understand their pain points?

Just like athletes, musicians, pilots and many others, sales reps need to focus on enhancing individual skills as part of their broader development strategy. It's about drilling down to the specifics, mastering each, and then bringing it all together to win the game. Sales is a sport. Let's train like it.

At Sales Boost Consulting I’m helping Sales and Enablement teams develop a proactive enablement strategy, deliver consistent messaging, and leverage new technology. If you need help in any of these areas, feel free to reach out to me. Also check out The Practice Lab.

#sales #SalesEnablement #SalesTraining #RolePlay #SkillDrill