As I usually like to do while I drive, last week I was
listening to a motivational CD which I bought. I had not heard of the speaker
before but found her to be very entertaining and informative. As I was
listening she said a quote from Sir Laurence Olivier, “The art is masking the
art”.
Sir Laurence was speaking of acting, and making reference to
rehearsing enough that the performance is so natural no one knows you are
acting. As I heard it I immediately put a sales twist on it to mean a great
sales presentation is so well practiced that the presentation seems like a
conversation. Please take note, I didn’t say the prospect doesn’t know it is a
sales presentation, I want my prospects to know it is a presentation. I just
want it to be so natural that it seems like we are talking as friends rather
than a sales rep and customer.
Why is this so important? Quite simple, the better you know
the presentation the more likely you are to be able to perform while at the
same time listen to the prospect. I have been with sales reps that are so
focused on their presentation they forget the prospect is there at all. They
are going through the motions and reciting the words without any connection to
the customer.
These reps forget that the object of the presentation is to
inform the prospect, to pique the prospects interest, TO GET THE PROSPECT
INVOLVED, and to get them to want to buy your product or service. If you are
just saying words and not relating to the prospect you won’t be hearing a yes.
As a sales trainer I usually practice at a ratio of 10:1.
That is I practice 10 hours to present a one hour class. As a sales rep I use
the same ratio. I will practice a demo and presentation time and time again,
until I am comfortable with it and until I can perform the demo and
presentation while paying close attention to the prospect and how they react to
what I am saying and doing.
Sales reps very often don’t understand the importance of
practice. I believe it is because we are so good with our words, we are so good
at thinking on our feet, and we are usually people that others can connect with
very easily. Although all of these characteristics are positive, and the truth
is in many cases we CAN talk ourselves into and out of problem situations,
imagine how much better every one of us could be if we put in the time to
master our presentations.
Personally I hope I never get to the point where I believe I
don’t need to practice. That would mean I feel I can no longer improve.
Over the years I have had the privilege of seeing several
people who were the BEST at what they do. I saw Arthur Ashe play tennis, Duke Ellington perform on stage,
Zig Ziglar speak, Joe Namath play football, and in 1996 I saw the world’s best
during the Olympic Games here in Atlanta. None of these SUPER STARS became the
best by only performing during shows and competitions. Each and every one of
these world class stars practiced 100, 200 maybe 300 times longer than their
performances.
We have all heard the saying, “Practice makes perfect”. This
isn’t true at all. Practice makes permanent! You need to remember the following
saying to become world class at what you do.
“PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!”
Sir Laurence Olivier was one of the most famous and revered
actors of the 20th century. He knew as an actor the importance of
practice, a sales rep that masks the art of selling will be one of the most
successful reps in their industry as well.
Lorin
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