In Sales, You Play Like You Practice

I’m watching my beloved St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.

Hall of Famer Joe Morgan is one of the announcers and he just showed a graphic of the Cubs pitcher getting his eight warm-up pitches before the inning began.

He made all eight pitches work toward or hit the outside corner of the plate.

When the Cardinals first batter came up, all he saw were pitches on the outside corner.

You play like you practice.

Even in sales.

I remember when I actually had to fill out Call Reports early in my sales career.

I also remember an easy-going sales manager blowing his lid one day after he read the Call Report’s another salesman had submitted.

Basically all it said was that he’d been making “routine sales calls”.

THAT, was a mistake.

I won’t go in to all the adjectives, adverbs, nouns and other forms of communication that ensued.

I will go in to what would have been a better use of that salesman’s time.

Always Have A Plan Before Making A Sales Call

Even if you’re in the type of industry where this type of sales call is tolerated, don’t fall into the trap of dropping by to talk baseball, golf and stupid jokes.

Find something in your industry to talk about. If it’s “future related”, that’s even better. A scheduled bid, an announcement about an event, etc.

Let them “feel” your concern for the(ir) future.

Always Ask About Their Pains

You don’t have to always ask for an order, but you do need to find out if they’ve found any pains since you last talked to them.

Why ? Because their pains are your profits.

They won’t buy features or benefits, per se, but they will pay to rid themselves of pain. Especially if your solution costs less than letting the pain continue.

Always, always, always establish your value and compare it to the cost of the pain.

Always Get Out Before You Start Talking Gibberish

Lots of salespeople don’t know when to say when.

They think being “conversational” will build rapport, when in actuality the prospect may be praying to high heavens that you’d shut up and leave.

When you become a student of human nature, you’ll e able to see the exact moment when they’re done with you.

Make an excuse to get up and get out quickly and let them say a quiet thanks that you never over-stay your welcome.

Just that little tactic will put you ahead of some less-than-savvy salespeople and may be the difference in winning a tight battle for a purchase decision.

You practice like you play, so don’t fall into routine sales call and always, always, always: Plan, Ask and Git

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