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The Three Games of Selling by Voss W Graham is the …

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College Football Fan's Ultimate Guide to

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Chapter Six: Practicing to Improve Results

Winning football teams just don’t show up for the games and expect to win. They practice continually to get to the next level. In the spring, they work on the fundamentals and the basics. In the summer, they come together to begin the process of learning their plays, the systems, and the reads; also, they practice the execution of plays and formations until the players don’t have to think about the variables. They have internalized the knowledge and now they just execute their assignments with consistency and effectiveness.
So why is it that sales people tend to only show up for their games? What is their reasoning for feeling that they can be successful by just “winging-it” when in the presence of customers? This is one of the big questions in the world of selling. Why don’t sales people practice more?
In this chapter, we will explore the importance of practice and personal improvement using practice time. We will also explore a couple of the most effective techniques for learning and internalizing the best practices for selling. Like the great teams, sales people can learn to practice and train for improving their results and moving to the top of their field and then the hard part… staying at the top every year. The key is to stay active in your learning and stay ahead of the thundering herd of average sales people. Make a commitment to be a winner and read on through this chapter.

Continuous Improvement – the Kaizen Process

When you are an intense fan of college football, you will follow the development of players from the time they enter as freshmen to the last game of their college eligibility. Watching a player improve each year is a true pleasure. The winning programs are designed to get good talent in the program and allow them to develop through good coaching and individual drive to get better each year. Football players will get faster, stronger and smarter as they progress during their tenure. Occasionally, we will see a player that does not improve. Why don’t they improve? Usually that player has a couple of issues. The most common is an attitude problem. They believe they are already good enough, and lose focus on the fact that everyone around them is getting bigger, faster and smarter. The other major issue occurs when the player does not take personal responsibility for his own development. Here we find that the player does not get involved in the off-season or voluntary development process. They assume that the only thing they have to do is to show up at practice, practice the plays, and then they will play in the games. In other words, it becomes the coaches’ responsibility to get the player ready to play on game day. This is a very unfortunate situation, as the player does not reach his full potential. People discuss this player in terms like “He shoulda, coulda, and woulda been great!” followed by a statement like “Wonder where he is today?”
Sales people need to be aware that the sales manager and training department are not responsible for their ultimate development. The top sales people take an attitude of continuous learning and development. This leads to taking personal responsibility for learning to be the best in their profession. In fact, our experience in working with sales teams finds the top people are always the first in line for a developmental opportunity. Often they fund the development process from their own paychecks.
Becoming a lifetime learner is the key to being employable for a lifetime. This is very different from being employed for life in today’s corporate environment of reorganizations, mergers, restructures and even company failures and closings. Some of the people that expect the company to take care of them because of their tenure make a very poor assumption. Top performers take control of their progress by setting a goal of continuous learning. It is amazing what can be learned from seminars, books, and articles on the sales profession and specific industries. We often hear self-learners state “It’s amazing. I’ve been successful based upon what I didn’t know last week, last month or last year.”
Some sales people ask why do they need to learn when there is nothing new to learn? First, these people are in denial about learning and information. The information age is accelerating the discovery of new things to learn. In fact, the experts are reporting that general knowledge is doubling every three years. Assuming this to be true, it is then possible that one third of a person’s knowledge will become obsolete or incomplete by the end of the year! This means we have to continuously learn to maintain our current knowledge base. Learning does not guarantee getting ahead of the knowledge curve. Focused learning in specific areas will increase the probability of getting ahead of the knowledge curve in the sales profession. However, doing nothing or very little in the areas of learning and development will place a person well behind the knowledge curve. When companies begin looking at reducing head count in the sales organization, the non-learners are at risk of losing their job. Increase your abilities and knowledge to avoid warming the bench in times of critical needs or crisis.
One insight that has been pointed out from people who excel at their personal continuous improvement process is that when they are actively learning an interesting thing happens - they discover more “secrets” to success. Their natural curiosity increases as they are exposed to more information, and they move into the world of the unknown! Yet, as they study the information or processes, they realize it has been there for a long time – they were just unaware of this knowledge. The addition of knowledge and the ensuing application of this knowledge improve their productivity and performance results. We’re back to the old “Law of Cause and Effect.” Change the causes and you will get different results.

Application Exercise

When a football team installs a new offensive play, they don’t wait until game day to execute it for the first time. They practice the play first. In fact, they practice it over and over again until they have achieved total memory of how to do it right. This allows for explicit learning and application of the fundamentals of the play so that the execution during a game will be more successful.
In the world of selling, unlike football, salespeople have the opportunity to practice plays before ever getting in front of the customer. Role Playing has been available to sales teams for decades. Since role playing is against the most knowledgeable and hardest critics – our peers – there has been a tendency to avoid this excellent tool for learning. The ability to adjust and perfect our selling techniques using this old method is priceless and can be used in meetings, on the phone, while driving to a customer site, and with formal developmental processes. However, many sales people tend to dislike this tool. Frankly, when they hear the term “role play” some actually get sick and leave.
Therefore, a new term has emerged to replace role play. It is the “application exercise”. When you are learning something new, the best practice is application of the new information in a simulation of real time situations.
Application exercises allow the sales person to practice a new technique or method before they are in front of a real customer. This practice allows the sales person to get active feedback relative to their performance. Suggestions and helpful hints can be provided on the spot for performance improvement. Experts in adult learning have found that the immediacy of feedback is a key factor in higher levels of retention in new learning. Since people tend to remember what they did wrong in situations, the use of immediate feedback will allow the sales person to remember or even internalize a new concept after the first practice session.
1. Learn to use the application exercise for such examples as:
2. New product rollouts,
3. Special promotions,
4. Learning new rapport building techniques,
5. Learning to flex to the different behavior styles you will meet,
6. And any other new processes.

Our experience with sales people is that they need to actually do the new process in a practice environment, or they will not attempt it in an actual customer meeting defaulting to old and comfortable methods with no positive results. Having knowledge available and not using it at the appropriate time is the same as not knowing it in the first place!
To be like the great football players, you need a personal developmental process that you work in every year and all year. Success does not come as a natural event for most of us. We are responsible for developing our winning edge. While working with industry superstars in selling, we have found that they are not two, three, five, or ten times better people. They just stay focused and execute on the little things all the time. Their results, interestingly enough, are often two, three, five or ten times greater than the average sales person. Be a winner, practice your skills and become a real professional.

Using Video and Audio Techniques

One of the things that makes the best teams better is the amount of time they review game and practice videos. The coaches use the video review principles to remove any doubt regarding the evaluation of practice sessions or game time performance. The video shows the real story to the player and the coach.
Like role play, the video camera does not see much time in the halls of sales groups. Why not? There appears to be many different reasons, yet the common theme is that sales groups just don’t want to, or there is some unknown fear factor that causes very outgoing people to become very shy. Again, this is an unfortunate reaction. The sales teams that have used the video process as a tool to improve their performance have learned to overcome deficiencies uncovered in the early videos and they see immediate improvement. Most of the time, the sales person’s self-esteem and self-confidence increases on the spot. This leads to higher levels of performance results within days and weeks rather than months and years.
The practice of video taping presentations or mock customer interactions is like role play on steroids! Why? The individual also gets to see him- or herself in action like everyone else. In some cases, this is the first time they have seen themselves perform a sales activity. The learning is instant and very memorable. Sales people tell us, years after the initial video sessions, about the positive impact it had on both their confidence and performance. The reason for this is simple. When people see themselves improving, their performance in presentations, questioning methods, gaining rapport or any other sales related practice, the application moves from positive thinking to positive knowing. As a sales person I may think I’m good now. When I see myself perform at a high level, I now know that I can do it and do it well. This drives an increase in confidence, and provides a new feeling of reinforced self-efficacy or mastery of the sales skills, thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy in performance. When people are willing to take action regarding their personal development, ultimately the results come in multiples.
Another tool that can be used by a sales person is the audio tape or digital recorder. This small handheld device can be used to practice a presentation as you are traveling to work or to a customer’s office. This tool is especially useful for capturing new ideas or creative ways to solve a customer’s issues. It has also been used to learn about your speech habits and patterns. You can practice where to place emphasis in pointing out information to customers. Since most sales people have a tendency to “wing-it” with customers, this could be the planning tool of choice when used to capture those winging thoughts!
Some sales people have used tape recorders to learn how to control pace and tempo for presentations or how to deal with customers with a very different style than the sales person. Again, practice when used as a development tool rather than punishment or a negative tool, will have immediate and positive results for both the sales person and his or her company.
The key for any improvement process is the active use of the tools and techniques for evaluating the level of performance. Having tools and not using them is as bad as being able to read and choosing not to read. This is a clear sign of impending stupidity. Become a winner and practice your trade using application exercises and video yourself for immediate review and improvement opportunities.
In summary, it is your responsibility to accept the role of developmental officer for your personal improvement process. Learn what your natural strengths and weaknesses are by using assessments. Think about what traits are necessary for you to perform your job at excellent levels and compare to your assessment information. Develop a plan of action for improving the traits that are important to your job performance. Fine-tune your strengths and work on your weaknesses that impact your results.
Use application exercises to practice your techniques and learn how to improve these techniques using the immediacy of the feedback. Use the video camera to capture your performance. You can review the practice session and accelerate your learning. See yourself improve during retakes or after learning new techniques and applying them. Feel the difference in your self-confidence and self-esteem as you eliminate the uncertainty or ambiguity that existed when the video captured your performance.
Using audio tape or digital recorders to capture your voice, pace, tone, and behavior style gives you the opportunity to make choices and actively plan and practice your presentations. Go the extra mile in developing your skills and maintain that winner’s edge for your lifetime. Be a winner and practice like a winner. Losers avoid practice time and are excellent at the negative emotion of denial – “Didn’t even know I am lying!” Be responsible for your excellence. Take an active stance and launch your career to the next level of performance.
To reach the highest pinnacles of success, a salesperson must be prepared to use the proactive techniques covered in this chapter. Self-discipline and focus combined with continuous improvement will separate you from the average player. Follow the old slogan – “No pain, no gain.” Practice will create some initial pain, yet the results of your gains will move you into the “playmaker” status. To borrow a quote from an old pro coach - “Perfect practice leads to perfect plays.” Make a personal decision to unlock “all” your hidden talents.

 

Coach Voss's Chalk Talk

Chapter Six: Practicing for Improved Results

  1. Continuous improvement is a personal choice and responsibility.
  2. Losers “wing-it” while winners have a plan for improvement - and follow the plan.
  3. Role plays and “Application exercises” allow you to learn to do things the right way without real penalties.
  4. No Pain, No Gain - swallow your pride and practice with feedback.
  5. Use videos for awareness and faster personal improvement.
  6. Use self-discipline and focus to separate from the average performers.
  7. Remember this quote: "Perfect Practice leads to Perfect Execution."