WATCH, LEARN, AND CRITIQUE…one of the best ways to run a successful Sales Practice is to model other people who are already successful. There is no need to ” reinvent the wheel”… just find out what someone else is doing that works and then do the same thing yourself. This certainly is a great approach when it comes to Lead Generation and Prospecting. How important is it to be highly skilled at generating new business? Obviously it is very important! Take advantage of the following suggestion and your skills will increase exponentially.
Here is your ACTION PLAN… set up a time once every week with a partner and… WATCH THEM PROSPECT. Whether they are on the telephone or face-to-face, you become the silent observer. You do not add to the conversation, here’s the procedure:
1. Observe their style and delivery and take note of what skills they are using that you could add to your repertoire. Usually a minimum of one hour timeframe is advisable (not 15 minutes).
2. Recognize where you are falling short and pay attention to opportunities to improve your delivery.
3. Don’t interrupt them, take notes and have a review every 20 minutes. It is important that you not only observe their style but are cognizant of the rhythm they create while contacting various prospects. Do they allow a lot of interruptions or do they just keep going to generate more contacts?
4. Generate a critique for your partner from your notes… pay attention to their rate of speech, tonality, use of scripts (did they stick to them?), conversation style, and closing techniques. Be brutally honest so that they can grow from your input. It’s a two-way street.
The next time you get together, reverse the roles and now you become the teacher and they become the student. One of the benefits of this exercise is that the person prospecting will always perform at their best when someone else is watching. It’s win-win for both of you. Have fun with this but at the same time follow the above guidelines. It’s not a time to get together and chat and make a few phone calls…put in your time…it’s Showtime! NO Excuses.