No winning without rehearsal

What sales pro could learn for professional sport people

I spent the weekend at Wimbledon, or as the English say, SW19 (the root of Wimbledon's postcode). The 'so British' atmosphere. The strawberries and their cream. The sophistication that is Wimbledon with its players in white and the class of the complex, something that is hard to describe.

And of course, the players and their serves. I was on Centre Court on Sunday for the Novak Djokovic vs Tim Van Rijthoven match. After a hard-fought second set that Tim managed to win with the support of the "Go on Tim!" crowd, Djokovic quickly regained the upper hand to win the third 6-1 and wrap up the fourth 6-2.

Despite his defeat, one of the most amazing things about Tim was his return of serve. Tim Van Rijthoven has an amazing first serve with balls between 120 mph / 130 mph. The equivalent of 200 km/h. Imagine a ball coming towards you at that speed... And yet Djokovic returns the ball, not only ensuring that it reaches the court, but sometimes even putting him in a position to win the point behind or even make a winning return.

On a serve at 200 kmh....

So what? He's a pro. He knows what he's doing. And he doesn't do it by chance. A lot of muscle reflexes.

What's that got to do with selling? Quite simply. Sales is a muscle. But all too often, I see organisations where the sales people have a certain mmmm ... confidence. They "know", so they go to customer meetings without having a clear methodology, they know their products and rely on their "people skills". And above all, cardinal sin, they don't rehearse. Unlike the No. 1s in various sports, of course. In other words, all too often, salespeople are convinced that they are far superior to the pros in their profession. They don't develop this sales muscle and find themselves under pressure when faced with prospects who are caught off guard.

Three ways to build a powerful continuous improvement for better sales efficience

So here are three steps to developing this muscle.

1- Have a methodology

When we start a B2B sales training, part of our transformation programmes, one of the things I ask sales people is how they manage their customer meetings. As I said above, I've stopped counting the number of times I hear some version of "I've got good people skills". I have no idea what these "people skills" are exactly so when I ask them if they can document these famous "skills", I rarely get a detailed answer. In other words, they improvise. They go 'by feel'. I doubt that if you ask Djokovic how he manages returns of serve, his answer will be "I have a good feeling for the ball"...

A methodology means you don't have to rely on improvisation. It is a series of detailed activities whose sequence is respected at each interaction, with a clear output controlled by the sales person, an approach that enables a prospect to be qualified as well as disqualified and a way of communicating, of asking difficult questions, of introducing a meeting and of finalising that can be documented.

I recommend using an approach based on the problems you solve, a consultative approach. But if you have another you prefer, that's fine (you're perfectly free to think, for example, that it's important to talk about the benefits you bring even if that's not what your customers have in mind). The important thing is to have one.

2- Document and iterate

It's important to document the different phases of a sales process.

When I say "document" I'm not talking about the stages with the percentages here and there when an opportunity progresses from one gate or stage to another. Or of what the sales rep has to collect at these different stages.

No. To help your sales people I talk about scripts. Writing a script is sometimes seen as a negative thing. And yet it allows you to be prepared... Especially when you are rolling out a new way of selling. It helps getting into the details of what to look for and how to articulate questions.

As Mike Tyson said, "everybody's got a plan, until they get punched in the face". So we know that writing a script isn't the solution because, as soon as a meeting starts, there's a good chance that reality won't be in phase with the script. But they have a plan.

What's more, the documentation is not limited to a specific phase. A script is not something that the sales person just spits out - far from it. It's an approach that enables them to be prepared and to draw from a "bank" and react in the best possible way. This "bank" should include, for example, a list of probing questions and how to ask them, or how to quantify the type of problem the prospect is facing to avoid basic objections such as "you're too expensive", etc... Using the example of tennis, this "bank" or documentation should include the serve, volley, return of serve, forehand, backhand, etc...

3- Learn by practice "sprints"

For some years now, software development has been based on the so-called "agile" method. If you're not familiar with it, the principle is to set short-term objectives and to iterate continuously in rapid sprints as a team.

The same applies to sales and improving sales teams. Define improvement targets. The specific phases you want to improve. Document these phases. And practice them. In a two-week sprint. Rehearse all the possible scenarios that a prospect might bring up. Increment by adding what sales people hear in the field, taking into account the fundamental principles of the methodology.

This approach of iterative repetition is one of the keys to the success of your sales organisation. It is the approach that enables your sales people to manage the difficult situations they encounter with their prospects.

This is the approach that will eventually enable your sales people to return services even when their prospects send them a service at over 200 kmh.... Instead of ending up like strawberries, completely creamed!