Last night I was leading a team meeting. I challenged one of the group to do some role playing to demonstrate the “presentation” part of the sales process. As I handed him the “script”, he held it in his hand and looked at it intensely. Silence followed as he continued to focus on the scenario. We asked him if there was anything he did not understand, and he said, “No, I am just studying this the way I normally would before I begin my presentation.”
Bill did well in the role play and he also does well in his job. He is their top-performing salesperson.
In addition to his preparation and discipline, he also has one other habit that comes with a well-prepared person: Attention to detail! In his work Bill persists in asking all the questions he can to get the important information he must have to build his presentation. Here are two secrets Bill has learned:
In sales, the advantage does to the person with the most detailed, comprehensive notes.
When we prepare relentlessly, we increase our confidence and odds for success.
Think of an upcoming event, appointment, or situation you are nervous or anxious about. How prepared are you for the event? Is there anything you can be working on right now that get you moving forward? Can you write an outline? Have you reviewed the notes? Are you preparing or procrastinating? If you are avoiding it, let me share with you a saying from a teacher I had decades ago: ” If we go through life unprepared, we won’t go along…fear will be our constant companion”
