Agile Selling by Jill Konrath

Author:Jill Konrath
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2014-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

Insightful questions build credibility and deepen relationships.

32

PRACTICE SAFE SELLING

Selling is a soft skill. Because sales involves people, it’s about effectively communicating, influencing, strategizing, getting buy-in, and so much more. And, because everyone has different life experiences, goals, personalities, work environments, and expectations, it’s tough to figure out the best approach to use at any given time.

In The Little Book of Talent, Daniel Coyle writes: “Soft skills are built by playing and exploring inside challenging, ever-changing environments. These are places where you encounter difficult obstacles and respond to them over and over, building the network of sensitive wiring you need to read, recognize and react.”

I totally agree with him. Getting better at selling requires so much more than just learning the procedures. We need deliberate practice to achieve proficiency. According to skill acquisition research, we need to conduct these simulations in an environment that replicates, as well as possible, what we’ll actually face on the job. It’s only by practice that we can acquire the sales skills and agility necessary for ongoing success.

Unfortunately, the majority of salespeople won’t practice their soft skills because they despise role-playing. They say it’s artificial and not like what happens in real life. They’ll also tell you how they hate making fools of themselves in front of their colleagues. But if they don’t practice, their first run-through of any new approach is in real time with actual prospects. Definitely not the best strategy!

Deliberate role-playing is the only way to get better at selling. It’s embarrassing—and costly—to practice in front of prospective clients. Believe me, looking stupid in front of supportive colleagues is a whole lot better than looking stupid in front of prospects.

Recently, I launched a new service that was targeted at VPs of marketing. I was pretty excited about it, especially after quickly landing a meeting with the head marketer of a well-known technology firm. But I soon found out that I wasn’t ready for the conversation I needed to have with him.

How did I find that out? I called up a colleague and asked her to role-play with me. Using the Buyer’s Matrix, I gave her a quick overview of what was important to this person, and then we began the simulation. Just a few minutes into our conversation, I could tell I was digging my own grave. I was babbling about what the program entailed and how we’d work together. Gobbledygook. When my colleague asked me questions about my offering, I stumbled over my answers, which only seemed to raise more issues and concerns. It wasn’t too long after that that she brushed me off, telling me to send her some more information for future reference. Some friend! But it was what I needed—clearly I wasn’t ready to have this conversation with the actual prospect.

Doing that role-play was crucial to my ultimate success. It forced me to rethink and restructure what I wanted to cover in my upcoming meeting. The changes I made led to an entirely different conversation and a much better outcome.

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