I started
my day today, as usual, watching SportsCenter on ESPN. My heart went out to the
skipper of the Oakland A's, ejected from a game with the Cleveland Indians for
arguing a call, a call he got right. Umpires called a shot off the outfield
fence a ground-rule double. Replays clearly showed it to be a home run ball but
the umps, after reviewing the video, stuck to their first call. Ouch.
I wouldn't want to be sports official for any
amount of money, especially today when there are cameras everywhere. Every
ball, every strike gets reviewed...your mistakes go on national TV. Can you
imagine working under that kind of pressure? Maybe you can, or maybe you
should. If an average workday of yours were recorded for the purpose of review,
what would the video (or audio) show?
Trust me, you are saying things you shouldn't.
Your body language sends the wrong message. You make statements that are
confusing or don't make any sense to the listener. So do I. It happens to all
of us. Videotaping a role-play in your sales meeting helps but it isn't the
same as "game conditions" where we relax and get into our routine.
Let's start with the easy stuff. If you have a smart phone (and you should) it
likely has an audio recorder built in or there is an app for that. Turn the
recorder on and record several live sales calls. Playback right after each
call; listen carefully for those "did I say that?" moments. Share it
with someone you know. Ask them to rehash back to you what it was you were
trying to say to the customer. Did they get your message correctly? If you're
gutsy, play it back for a colleague or manager and ask them to critique
you.
The only way to get better at anything, selling
included, is to practice, get good coaching, learn from mistakes and repeat
good behaviors. Good baseball managers may get thrown out of a game a few times
each season. Good salespeople get ejected from sales calls several times a day.
Don't argue the call, but learn from the errors you make in the sales field by
reviewing the tape.
Here's hoping you go 5 for 5 in your next
outing!
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