Why Are You Practicing Your Sales Calls With Your Customers!?

As a professional salesperson, one of your key skills needs to be having the ability to think while on your feet. You have to be able to respond correctly, and quickly, to the unexpected. In fact, being able to do so is a point of pride.

However, as Mike Tyson once said … “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face!” It’s how you react to the unexpected that will often determine whether or not you will win this sale. You must train, plan, and practice for each contingency. You need to practice sales role plays!

The unexpected yet expected

While there are a lot of areas where practice becomes critical, we can start with these. Although expected, they don’t always present themselves at our most convenient and planned times …

Prospecting – Whether outbound or inbound. Phone, email, social, or face-to- face … prospecting is an art.
Networking – Business networking can be done socially, in a group session, or one-on-one. It is critical for building those relationships which will lead to referrals.
Initial sales call – Too many important elements to list here!
Qualifying – If not properly qualified, your chances of securing this sale are greatly diminished!
Presenting – Your presentation will be key in establishing your value proposition.
Handling objections – Inevitably, they will always come up. You must practice to clarify, cushion, conquer, and confirm.
Closing – While I have always considered the close to be the natural culmination of a sales call done correctly, pen must still be applied to paper.

The question for the salesperson then becomes, will you …

Rely on your quick wits and practice with each customer?
Role play with your manager? If not a manager, a trainer or a coach?
Or … how about practicing with A.I.?

Let’s look at each …

Practice with your customer

I’ve been in B2B sales since 1977 and you would think that, in this time, I had heard them all. I haven’t. Customers, as creative as they are, always seem to be able to throw me a curve ball. The first skill that you need to have in these instances is … don’t panic! How you respond initially is in itself a trained skill.

Hopefully, your answers will pass muster with this client and they won’t be punctuated by profuse sweating and “uh” or “um” not becoming your new favorite words. With this conversation behind you, the next one is just around the corner. Once again you will have the opportunity to practice with your customer. Can this be our only solution?

Practice with a manager, coach, or trainer

Given the choice of practicing in front of a potential customer or a third-party, I will always choose the latter. However, as someone who spent over 90% of his sales career in management, role playing with sales reps has never been much fun for either of us.

Both are faced with the pressure of performing with a peer. Inevitably, the practice session is interrupted by proclamations of … “What the hell are you thinking!?”. Reviews tend to focus on more of what you did wrong rather than what you did right along with suggestions for improvement.

Conducting role plays with a rep was never one of my favorite things. I would much rather go out on a call where … we could both practice in front of a customer. Lastly, you both need to find a convenient time where you can be together for this practice and that appointment is a constantly moving and shifting target. Now throw in repetition. Fuggetaboutit!

Practice with A.I. (Sales Coach Pro)

I have recently partnered with Sales Coach Pro. I’m not one who is typically drawn to shiny baubles, but the shine on this one was so impressive that I had to dive in! This opportunity came to me at exactly the right time. I am pursuing sales training for signage companies (my background), and Sales Coach Pro was the missing piece to the puzzle!

I’ll give it to you simply. We first teach the application about your company and your products and services. This is much easier to do than it might be seen on the surface as this, and all aspects of the platform, is supported by A.I.

Next we create sales scenarios specific to your business. This includes initial calls, presentations, or really anything that you would like to practice. Sales Coach Pro then creates a realistic customer agent who will practice this scenario with you. This is a verbal conversation that is also being recorded for review later.

Following completion of the scenario, a score card is generated which points out areas where you performed admirably as well as those that you did not. This also includes suggestions for those areas where you could have done better. This is a rinse and repeat process, each time watching your score rise because … practice makes perfect and permanent.

Finally, your results might be jointly reviewed by you and your manager or coach. The beauty of this system is that it allows the participant to practice anytime and anywhere without the stress of someone looking over their shoulder. While I have never been big on gamification, I have to admit that it works well in this process. The competitive nature of most salespeople will drive them to improve their scores and, if deployed in a team environment, it becomes friendly combat.

In closing, I can tell you that I have used it myself and tested it with other salespeople. Not just newbies. Seasoned reps with a proven track record. The results are outstanding and I will be sharing this good news with salespeople from all industries.

If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM, my sales training, or Sales Coach Pro might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to my calendar.

To learn more about our Nimble training and implementation services, please visit our Nimble CRM training services page.

I would also be happy to connect you to a marketing professional who I know and trust or to an automated yet personalized and human-to-human LinkedIn prospecting system. Please reach out to me at craig@adaptive-business.com for an introduction!

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!