When was the last time you practiced your sales techniques?
While watching the Olympics this past winter, my wife and I remarked on how fantastic all of the athletes were in executing their sports. The downhill racers were separated by thousandths of a second. The figure-skaters had to do seemingly impossible tasks many times during the course of their performance.
The best sports physiologists tell us that, once one gets to this level of athleticism, the key difference between success and failure is frequently the amount of practice that an individual has applied. I’ve always wondered why we in sales don’t practice nearly as much as athletes. Remember, our practice pays off next month in a larger commission check. Olympic athletes may practice for years, just to get a shot at winning a medal.
The best way for you to practice is to invest $50 or so in a digital recorder. I’d like you to sit down and present your company’s value proposition to a coworker. You and your associate should take turns playing the role of salesperson or customer. The salesperson playing the role of customer should fire off all of the typical objections that you encounter on a daily basis.
Then, when you’ve completed a scenario, re-listen to yourself on the digital recorder. More often than not, this simple exercise will show you flaws in your sales approach. Fix those flaws and, very much like an Olympic athlete, you can go for the gold.
Good Luck & Good Selling!!
