VINCE SAID IT BEST… legendary Vince Lombardi made the following statement famous… “Practice doesn’t make perfect… perfect practice makes perfect”. Every Salesperson needs to practice their presentations, their dialogues, their delivery, their questioning technique, etc. BEFORE the whistle blows and the game starts. Most don’t practice for a variety of reasons. Practicing is a bit like Prospecting… it’s hard work, it’s a bit boring, and it’s “not why I got in this business in first place!”. All are understandable comments but sorry…they do not eliminate the need to practice. Athletes, entertainers, speakers, and Salespeople all need to practice.
Here is your ACTION STEP… for those of you who accept the fact that “Perfect practice makes perfect“, here is a 4 part practice regimen that Mr. Lombardi would surely endorse as perfect:
Part #1. Schedule Role-play sessions with different partners five days a week 20 to 30 minutes every morning before you start your Lead Generation. Put it in your schedule early in the day.
Part #2. Spontaneous Role-playing. The next time you are making an important call or going on appointment, grab someone in your office for five minutes and get them to be the customer you are going to see. Tell them what you expect to run into, role-play your presentation, get their critique.
Part #3. Record your Prospecting and then self-critique it. Get it cheap recorder that allows you to record both sides of your telephone conversations. Listen in to 15 minutes of your prospecting at least once a week. You will learn some amazing things about what you are saying… you will start to recognize what works and what does not work.
Part #4. Record yourself delivering your various Scripts and Dialogues without a customer. Listen to them in your car. Here’s what we have learned…when it is your voice you are listening to it becomes more believable that you can deliver the same material in real life.
Congratulations! If you got this far in the text of today’s Daily Sales Tip, it means you are committed to getting to a level most Salespeople avoid. Start working on the above 4 strategies and build them in to your personal development program. Pick them off one at a time. This is where the highly committed Salespeople show up. Collectively they will help you become a Superstar! NO Excuses.