In my early days of selling, I was a winger. I guess everyone knows what a winger is, but in case this is a new term for you, wingers describe not just salespeople, but people in general who rely on their ability to think on their feet and their ability to come up with the right words or expressions without any preparation at all.
I was a winger in college and my grades should have taught me that winging it through life was not the most effective path to success.
Then when I became a salesperson, I once again frequently chose to wait until the last minute to prepare for a big presentation.
As with most of us, just one life-changing event can teach us an important lesson that common sense should have taught us much earlier in life. In my case, this life-changing event took place in New York City in front of about 200 of my fellow salespeople.
Heres the scenario: Along with my fellow salespeople around the country, I was invited to attend the kickoff of what was promised to be one of our companys hottest new product lines. The company had chosen the name Ruco for this exciting new siding product. Ruco was made of a form of lightweight expanded concrete, but it looked a lot like wood from a distance. But in addition to looking a lot like wood, an installer could cut it with a saw and drive a nail through it. And to cap off the list of features Ruco possessed, it provided insulation benefitsjust like real wood.
Each salesperson was mailed a demonstration kit in advance of the sales meeting with instructions to practice the demonstration often enough prior to arriving at the sales meeting to show off our presentation skills in front of the entire national sales force. I received the kit and the instructions just like all of the other salespeople, but unlike the others, I didnt practice at all. I figured that if I was lucky enough to avoid having to go first, I was enough of a quick-study to wing it and get by just fine.
My plan didnt work. In fact, my presentation was a disaster. Ive never been so humiliated in my life. It was extremely obvious which salespeople practiced their presentations and which ones were like me -- wingers. One particular salesperson, when demonstrating how easy Ruco was to nail, hit his thumb with the hammer and blood shot all over the Ruco. Another was so nervous that his hands were visibly shaking when he held a lighted blowtorch underneath the Ruco to illustrate its insulation qualities.
In hindsight, this was one of the most important days of my selling life because it was on this day that I made the decision to never again rely on my wits to get me through a product presentation.
Today, before standing before an audience of salespeople, I spend several hours preparing. Even though I may have presented some of the same material before, I always practice. I always prepare. I never again want to experience the feelings I felt that day in New York City.
How about you? How are you at presenting one of your companys key product lines? How long do you practice before standing in front of a prospect to make a key demonstration. Is it obvious to your potential customer that this presentation was not iimportant enough to you to adequately prepare?
As the great sales trainer Jim Rohn says, when you take your business too casually, youre likely to become a casualty. So I encourage you, do your homework. Practice. An important presentation can be as important to your sales success as opening night can be for a Broadway actor. So dont blow it by taking your profession too casually.
Bill Lee is author of Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line ($21.95) and 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95) Plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 S&H for each additional book. To order, See Shopping Cart at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com
Ludwig Beethoven
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