Hi All
Catchy title huh? You must be thinking, what the heck is Rick talking about here?
You ever hear of the book ‘The Art of War, by Sun Tzu? Sun Tzu was a high ranking Chinese military general, strategist and tactician. He wrote this book over 2,000 years ago and has become the blueprint for military generals. One of the well known premises of The Art of War, is ‘every battle is won before it is fought.’
So how does this apply to sales and what does (should) it mean to you?
In a previous blog post I gave everyone my Confidence Ingredients; Knowledge, Preparation, Experience
How prepared are you going into each appointment? How much work did you put in beforehand? Do you have a game plan, a strategy? Do you know your objective? Do you know what outcome you want? Do you know how to get there? Are you putting yourself in a peak state before you walk in the door?
Now remember, I am a salesperson at heart. You can’t fool me. I know what you’re thinking. ‘Of course I’m prepared, I have printouts, reports and illustrations’. ‘I spent plenty of time for case prep’.
Ok, all fine and good. But did you put yourself in the mindset of your client? Are you thinking what he’s thinking? (see past post about Magic Marketing Phrases) Do you know what his or her objections are going to be? Are you anticipating them? Are you prepared for that objection that comes out of left field?
Any sports fans out there? You watch the pregame introductions in basketball or how football players get themselves pumped right before kickoff? You think they are putting themselves in a peak state? Of course! Now I’m not saying you have to bang your head against the wall to get excited or sprint from your car to your clients front door, but …….
For you football fans out there, remember Bill Walsh, coach of the 49ers? He revolutionized offenses. One the strategies he pioneered was scripting the first 15 plays his offense would run and he stuck to it no matter what. He strategized the plays through intense game film study of his opponent and found weaknesses he could exploit.
He then had his team practice those plays over and over and over again until they could execute them in their sleep. By the time the game started and his offense was on the filed, they had extreme confidence knowing that the plays would work. That’s the same principal Sun Tzu wrote about in ‘The Art of War’.
You see, uncommon salespeople do the things that common people won’t. So while other salespeople do the usual case prep, the master salespeople do so much more. One of my partners, Nick Palumbo said it best, ‘the most successful salespeople know their outcome before they walk in the door’.
So do you know yours?
Tips from this article
- Create your own pregame ritual, one that you are comfortable, confident and excited with
- Stick to it
- Mind muscle exercises – ‘I make a huge impact on my clients lives’, ‘I provide immense value that all my cleints’ appreciate’
- Plan out the appointment; from the first thing you say to your close then stay in control
- Be passionate and confident