All the World's a Stage in Sales too
7 Mar 2009
William Shakespeare wrote ‘All the world’s a stage and each must play a part’. Of course he wasn’t referring specifically to salespeople when he wrote that – but in my book, it’s very relevant indeed.
I’m often on the receiving end of sales presentations or accompanying salespeople on sales visits to clients to see how they measure up. And I’m shocked – no horrified, at the lack of preparation by so many salespeople prior to an important sales meeting or presentation, let alone before picking up the telephone and making a cold call.
So returning to the Shakespeare theme...
Imagine the scene. The Globe theatre is packed with an audience eagerly anticipating the production of The Merchant of Venice. Meanwhile, behind the curtains, a group of actors are in quiet discussion.
“Anyone ever done the Merchant of Venice before?” asks one.
“No but I’ve got a vague idea of how it goes” says another.
“Can’t be that difficult. I’m sure we’ll wing our way through it OK” says another.
“Let’s face it the audience won’t know if we got it a little wrong anyway” says another.
And so they go on stage, not ever having studied the script, totally unprepared – and it’s a mess.
Of course that would not happen. So why would any salesperson or sales team not know precisely what they are going to say during a telephone call or a sales presentation? Why would they not know what questions they were going to ask? Why would they not know all the questions they were likely to be asked and have answers prepared? Why, why, why would they not have a script to work to and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse? Let’s face it – when we are selling, we’re on stage! And the larger the value of the sale and / or the long term value of the customer or client – the more rehearsals are needed.