Last night’s Superbowl game was a great example of the importance of preparation. I could spend a lot of time talking about how each team prepared by reviewing video footage of the other team or completing intense workouts or planning their basic strategy. However, because I’m a big fan of The Who I want to look at the sales lesson that was demonstrated by during the halftime show. It’s about the importance of preparation.
From set up to tear down, the entire show was executed in less than 30 minutes.
The performers had exactly twelve minutes for their performance. With an event like this timing is essential which meant that the band not only had to write the medley, they also needed to ensure that they could perform it in the allotted time. How many times did they rehearse their performance to ensure that they could actually perform their act in the allotted time?
I was impressed to learn that the ground crew had less than six minutes to construct the entire stage for the halftime performance. And, when the show was finished the crew had just over seven minutes available to remove the stage from the field. Although I’m sure the gear was set up behind the scenes and it was disassembled in sections, it’s still an impressive feat to execute this feat.
How frequently did the crew practice? How often did they run through their “performance” to ensure that they could execute on game day? How many times did they set up and tear down that stage?
This leads me to the real reason for writing this post.
How much practise do YOU put into your work? When you apply a new concept or strategy into your approach, do you rehearse it with a coworker first? Do you practise before you use that strategy with a prospect or customer? Do you rehearse your sales presentations before you meet with a customer? Do you know exactly what message you want to deliver?
When you have an important meeting scheduled with a new prospect, do you take the time to prepare your questions? Do you make the effort to verbally run through those questions BEFORE your meeting? Do you keep on eye on the time and make sure that you respect your prospect’s time?
One of the key to success in sales is preparation. However, the vast majority of people who sell a product, service or solution simply do not invest enough time preparing before important calls, meetings or presentations.
Follow the lead from an aging rock band and invest more time preparing. Your results will reflect that effort.
TransUnion, the third-largest American consumer credit reporting agency, has recently released a report showing more and more consumers are paying their credit card bills instead of their mortgages. The study revealed that Americans who are current on their credit cards but delinquent on their mortgage increased from 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to 6.6 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
