Practice makes perfect. However, you don’t want to be building toward perfection - or worse yet, adequacy - when the pressure is on. Salespeople tend to confuse practice situations from game time situations. Any time you are with a prospect or client, it’s game time. The opportunity to practice should have already presented itself and if you haven’t prepared, chances are you’re getting a cold start and improvising isn’t the best game plan. Don’t practice in front of clients and prospects. More often than not it will slow the sales process or lose the sale completely.

Practice is a repetitive process. It’s doing something over and over until you are comfortable with it and can execute flawlessly. Unfortunately, practice is rarely fun. The drills can be monotonous and tiring. That doesn’t mean it’s not immensely valuable. Superstars in every profession recognize the value of practice and the learning opportunity it provides to help them achieve higher levels. Sales isn’t any different. Often salespeople don’t practice because they feel it is unnecessary or boring. Sales superstars recognize that while often monotonous, practice is vital to their success.

So what are practice situations for sales people if not sales calls? How else does a sales person get experience? While there is no substitute for live sales calls, those are game lessons - not practice. Practice comes in many forms and preparing for a sales call by doing some research on the company is an obvious one. Pre-call planning with a sales manager or coworker to map out your strategy, concerns, and initial steps in a sales call is another useful tactic. Role-playing a mock call can be a good warm up for the real thing. All of these activities get you ready to meet the client or prospect so that the sales call starts off productively.

Do everything you can to be prepared for this individual sales call so that you aren’t wasting time. It will boost your confidence, move the sales process along better, and the client or prospect will appreciate a sales person that’s on the ball. This all reflects well on you and your company and drastically improves your chances of success. Don’t practice on a sales call, do that before hand, and be ready to execute what you’ve practiced when it counts.

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