We all know the adage – practice makes perfect. Well, not necessarily so.
Think about it. You are working on a new sales delivery approach (a new way to introduce you, your company and your capabilities). You stand in front of the mirror and practice your lines until you have them memorized. You now have, in your opinion, a killer opening. So you go out and use it. Yet the buyer is not impressed. You use it again with another buyer, same response. You wonder what’s wrong, as you’ve practiced to perfection. Well you may have practiced to perfection; it’s just that what you practiced doesn’t work. The buyer doesn’t care about you until you show you care about them first – another adage by the way.
The challenge is that in both business and even in our personal lives, people have a tendency to: 1) not practice or 2) to practice the wrong things.
The Osama Bin Laden event brought renewed attention to the Navy SEALs, and especially to Seal Team 6. What is important about the SEAL’s is their training. They train, learn, train, change scenarios, look for opportunities and train some more. Their edge – practice – practicing to near perfection, a number of scenarios.
How much do you practice? Do you build various situations such as identifying potential push back statements from the buyer and develop responses? Do you role-play the buyer / seller interaction? Do you evaluate your sales calls as to what went well and what could have gone better, and then improve your approach on the very next call? Do you understand why you lost the business? Do you understand what you did to win the business?
Business is certainly not war, but there are important points we can learn from the military – and from sports teams for that matter. Practice counts – but only practicing to deliver the right approach from a variety of possibilities will result in a win.
Copyright Kubica and LaForest 2011
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