Practice makes perfect, right ? Well, it would appear that’s not actually the case, after evaluating some of my own research into the quality of some presentations that continue to be performed.
At Sales+Profit we are very fortunate to meet so many great businesses and some very inspiring entrepreneurs on our travels, however, for every well-oiled machine we sadly meet some that are not so well-oiled.
A previous manager of mine once sat me down and told me that successful selling was 90% prospecting and 10% selling.
Regardless of this statistic being right or wrong, the fact of the matter is that we all generally spend more time identifying, developing and nurturing opportunities than we spend presenting our respective offerings (unless you’re fortunate enough to have more opportunities than you can cope with).
Why is it then that so few businesses allocate quality time in their diary to actually practice and hone their presentation skills in preparation for ‘game time’? The excuses for not practicing tend not to vary that much and often include ‘we just don’t have enough time’ and ‘we’re already fantastic in front of clients so all we really need is more leads’ (yes, that old chestnut).
What is also often quite interesting is when I ask what a client’s close ratio is. The answer is more often than not ‘we generally win about 1 in 3′ – which is often wildly inaccurate.
I think most sports fans would agree that Jonny Wilkinson knows how to kick a rugby ball. So why is it that he continues to practice for 6 hours a day every day of the week and yet a rugby match only lasts 80 minutes ?
The simple answer is that professional sport these days is about performing when the pressure is on and when it really counts. So what’s the giveaway word in the last sentence ? – you got it – ‘professional’ – which by definition means you do it for a living.
In summary, if you’re not practicing and constantly reviewing how you present your proposition when it really matters, the chances are you’re running the risk of getting the results that you truly deserve……. those of an amateur !!!
