Have You Prepared for Success in Sales?
My wife and I watched the movie Ray a couple of weeks ago when
it came out on DVD. In the movie Jaime Foxx plays the legendary
singer Ray Charles. I was amazed at how Jaime had captured the
essence of Ray Charles. Many times throughout the movie I
wondered if it was Jaime Foxx or Ray Charles I was seeing on my
TV.
When I did research on Jaime Foxx's preparation for the movie I
understood why he had captured Ray Charles so perfectly. In
preparation for Ray, the movie, he adapted many of Ray Charles'
physical characteristics and immersed himself in Soul, Jazz and
Blues recordings to set the mood; attended classes at the
Braille Institute; and spent weeks during rehearsal and
production walking around with his eyes sealed tight for 12
hours a day, to gain an intimate understanding of what it really
means to be blind.
Many on the set where stunned by how spontaneous and natural the
actor's embodiment of Charles became. But imitation was never
the point for Foxx. "The key word for me was nuance, because I
didn't want to simply impersonate him," says Foxx. "Rather, I
wanted to capture some part of his spirit, that's all. There
were a lot of little touches which I tried to layer-his
musicality, his warmth, his sense of balance, his posture-until
the physical side of things all fell into place."
The true story sells itself, and Foxx's interpretation is so
uncanny that lifelong friends of the real Ray expressedgenuine
confusion on set.
For all this hard word and dedication Jaime Foxx was paid
millions of dollars and awarded the highest compliment by the
movie industry, an Oscar.
What does this have to do with sales training, everything!
Actors, athletes, doctors and lawyers are paid based on the
amount of preparation in their chosen field. Did Michael Jordan
decide one day he wanted to play basketball and became an
instant superstar? Do the top heart surgeons in the world one
day decide to cut someone open and operate on their heart?
Of course not!
They all spend years of preparation to become the best in their
field.
Then why do so many sales professionals believe they can get to
the top of their profession without proper preparation?
During my twenty two years in sales I've watched countless sales
people enter the sales arena with very little preparation and
then not understand why they failed.
I've seen sales people take little time to understand the
product or service they are selling. Sit down to make phone
calls with no idea what to say. Head out on sales appointments
and wing-it. Then go home at five o'clock and wonder why they
can barely pay their bills.
They want to earn top dollar without putting in the effort.
To be a professional in any field requires work. I'm not only
talking about during the work day. I mean extra work at night
and on weekends in preparation for what to say when you make a
call, on a presentation, handling objections, closing, in all
aspects of our profession. I'm talking about practicing outside
the sales arena until you become so polished; selling becomes
second nature, like walking or driving your car.
The stars in the sales profession spend time outside of their
regular work day in preparation for how to handle every
situation that may arise. They right out exactly what they will
say in those situations and then practice and rehearse until it
flows from their mouth. They don't need to think about it.
If you truly wish to be a star in the sales profession and get
paid what stars get paid, then do what the stars do. It's not
easy. It requires dedication, commitment and hard work. However
the rewards are great.
If you want to be average and get paid what average sales people
get paid, then wing-it.