This skill is one that you can master.  The ability to deliver your message flawlessly is a matter of practice and confidence.  This post talks will give you fine pointers, but you have to do the practice.  If you are already there, congratulations you are in a select group!

______________________________

It is well known that your ability to communicate will help to give you a solid base to be an exceptional sales professional.  It won’t make you the consummate professional, but it will enhance your ability to perform.  I feel that the professional, in sales or otherwise, who communicates well and also has a “fire in the belly”, has the potential to outperform other professionals.

We will spend a couple of posts over the next few weeks talking about communication.  It is an art that will never abandon you as you go forward, and it will also transform your confidence levels. In this post, we are going to make a suggestion that you find comfort in your ability to “stand and deliver” by rehearsing and practicing frequently.  Know well your strengths and weaknesses and improve to a level that puts you on another level.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I bet that you feel the most boring activity that you feel that you can do is to repeatedly practice your verbal delivery, but I am compelled to advise you to do it.  What I am saying is that you cannot perfect something without the requisite practice.  As a sales professional, everything from your introduction, through your ‘elevator pitch’ (Black Sales Journal 8/11/2011, Know Your Elevator Pitch), to your proposal and your close should be smooth.  There should be no fillers and little chop to your delivery.

So what am I saying?  Do everything necessary to improve your delivery.   Videotape yourself using digital cameras, web cams or otherwise giving speeches and presentations until you have solved you’re your need for ‘fillers’ and until you have reduced any ‘choppiness’.  We have all heard the suggestion that we should be able to sell any object using feature-benefit selling, now is your chance to practice.  Not knowing your material lends to more pauses and fragmentation.  Here is your chance to, while in private, present and evaluate your delivery, and improve.

You can bet that if you videotape, you will find things that you will want to change.

These may include:

• Frequent use of  “Umm” as well as “and uh”
• The annoying use of the phrase “You Know”
• Frequent starting of sentences with “Well…”
• Improper usage of the word “like”
• Talking at “break speed”
• Exhibiting an “I” problem (talking about yourself too much)
• Inclusion of slang and even obscene language

In a very short time I have seen professionals remove “you know” from their delivery even without the videotape.  Consciousness is important, and you will become even more aware if you use your phone, your computer webcam, or a video camera as your observation tool.

With the help of your recording session, you will become quite conscious and truly internalize it, reducing annoying habits, and improving delivery.  It is worth the experiment.

Who Do You Like to Hear?

There are many great speakers out there, and you may find one that you want to model after.  If you are just the best YOU that you can be, that should work for you.

The basic objective of this exercise is to improve your delivery during the sales process, and you will find that it will carry over into your personal conversations as well.

It is sound to model after someone, but you must be realistic.  Almost all great speakers have some weakness or flaw, no matter how accomplished they are.  You are looking to improve the quality of your delivery.  You don’t want to preach, but you need to be able to deliver the ‘word’.  You don’t want to sound like a professor, but you want to sound intelligent.  Lastly, you don’t want to sound like a funeral director, so you must use some personality, humor, and personality.

Almost as good as the videotape for the sake of monitoring is a “partner” or even a listening coach could do the trick if the right person is available.

The Result

I had a professional who worked with me several years ago.  He had a nervous, high-pitched laugh that became pronounced when he got …nervous.  He could not hide it, or at least it appeared that he had no chance of controlling it.  We had a call together, and as the account was a big one, and he felt pressed.  I can remember the call as if it were yesterday, the laugh echoing in my ears.  I was only hoping that the buyer was not as negatively affected by it as I was.

When it was over I though about it over and over, and decided that I needed to talk to the individual as we, undoubtedly would be on a call together at some point in the future.  He did know that it was happening, and did not know how often he was doing it.  I could not put into words for him how much it was happening.  There were few video cameras, and cell phones did not possess the abilities that they do now.  I limited the calls with my clients when possible for this individual, as there were no remedies out there.  This laugh was not going to stop.  Yes…I am saying that some things are deeper than just an ‘I know’, but most can be remedied.

If you do the videotaping or the partnering, you will have an avenue to begin working on the necessary improvements.  Nothing is like continuous improvement.  Try it, and you will see what I mean.

Your comments are welcome. You can reach me at Michael.Parker@blacksalesjournal.com.

I know that I seem to spend a lot of time and effort getting someone to re-boot their sales career, without as much regard for those individuals who are doing well, and just needing to fine-tune some of their efforts.  During this post we will spend some time talking about some activities that will help you to sharpen your skills.

__________

You may want to ”sharpen your saw” for a variety of reasons.  Among these reasons could be:

• To make more money
• Exceed sales goals
• To increase your effectiveness and efficiency
• To get a promotion or better job

There are things you can to that will affect these areas.  If you are doing well, and want to consider these while there is not serious survival pressure.

The activities that a sales professional does can be common and some are based on particular situations.  There are activities that are done everyday, and there are those that are done as a reaction.  The good part about sharpening skills is that you move away from survival techniques and move to the items that make you more effective.

9 Items to Help You Tune it up

I know that you have heard these items somewhere before.  I hope the explanations will hope you understand why you need to consider them.

Here are some items that I would suggest:

• Seek out a mentor
• Mentor someone
• Get up to date on technology
• Examine your goal setting
• Institute a networking plan
• Attend a sales seminar
• Improve your knowledge – Take a class
• Join a group or association with common interest
• Get a sales coach

Seek out a mentor – You have heard this one from me before, and I cannot emphasize it enough.  I have done two posts about it, and the interesting part is that most Black sales professionals do not do it.  I will note that the mentor need to be accomplished, rather than of a particular race or creed.  It is always good to have someone that shares some of the same challenges in cold calling and organizational interaction.   If you want to see more, check out Black Sales Journal 1/27 Do You Need A Mentor, Probably Two, and Black Sales Journal 7/18 When Mentoring Goes Wrong.  Remember, mentoring can be formal and informal in terms of the arrangements.  Make sure that you arrange it so you can get what you need out of the relationship.

Mentor someone - Nothing helps you re-examine the most important areas of sales professionalism like when you are teaching it to others.  Whether it is the finer points of prospecting or the timing of a close, you think about it harder when you have to teach it to others.  You may refer to Black Sales Journal 3/28 Being A Mentor on this important topic.  You will be giving back, but also re-examining your sales base in the process.

Get up to date on technology – This is a good one to examine.  Increasing your mastery on your system at work is just as important as some of the actual face-to-face work you will be doing.  If you are on Sales Genie or SalesForce.com, you may need to bring yourself up to date to be most efficient.  These programs have good functionality, and your ability to shorten use times depends on your mastery, so get good at it.

Examine and change your goal setting – Stretch yourself on your goals and internalize them.  You all know what stretching means, now I will quickly say that internalizing them means that you will substitute them for the goals that you were given for the year or period.  The new number then is “your” number, and it is taken for granted that your new number is more ambitious.

Institute a networking plan – I will point to Black Sales Journal 2/21, Networking for the Black Sales Professional for this valuable suggestion.  The strength of networking is that prospecting can be less tedious.  They know why you are at the function (chamber meeting, business function etc.) and they know you are going to “touch” them at some point.  It is expected at this function, so your comfort level is high.  The good thing is that this is where your elevator pitch (Black Sales Journal 8/12, Know Your Elevator Pitch) comes in handy.  If all goes well, someone in there is in need of a widget, whether they know it or not.

Attend a sales seminar – There are many that believe sales seminars are a waste of time.  There are some that are worse than others, yet I believe that if you come out of it motivated, and believe in the boundless ability to make money, then it cannot be a total waste of time.  I went to a Zig Ziglar event one time, and he delivered a lot of platitudes, yet there were some sound messages delivered as well.  Note – If you pick up one kernel that develops you, you have been successful.

Improve your knowledge; take a class or course – It does not even have to yield a certificate, let alone a degree, but a course that strengthens you technically can yield strong benefits.  Knowing more about your product, marketplace, or the sales process is a plus and an excellent way to sharpen skills.

Join a group or association – This one is a solid way to network as well as capture an audience for your skills.  Joining a group or association is an excellent way to develop contacts, show expertise, and gather the backing that you need to be considered a true expert.

Get a sales coach – I saved this one for last because it may cost money.  A sales coach is a solid way to get someone to evaluate your sales style and help you improve your weak areas.  Do you have a problem probing, supporting, or probing?  If you sales manager is not giving you constructive comments, you may need someone to help.  Coaches are not free, yet depending on the resources that you have at your disposal starting with your sales manager this might be necessary.  Try your manager first, then a mentor next.  If that does not give it to you, consider a sales coach.  Sales coaching can be on-line, personal, or for teams of sales professionals.

Be Honest With Yourself

The most important thing is to be honest about what you really need help on.  If you are just low in spirits and need some uplift, consider attending the sales seminar.  If you are in need of someone to bounce things off of seek a mentor.  I think you get the drill.

If you career is not sputtering, this is really for you.  If you don’t need to do some emergency triage to stay in your position, you can strengthen areas that others are forced to ignore.  Pick one, and make yourself more complete with the objective of continuous improvement.

We welcome your comments. You can reach me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.