The Issue: Developing The Sales "X-Factor"
By Conrad Elnes, Member: "Who's Who Of Sales Thought Leaders"
What do Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps and the Pittsburgh Steelers have in common? Answer: An "X- Factor." Teaching your sales team to apply the "X- Factor" in their skill development can set each person on the road to World Class sales productivity.
The "X-Factor" is something that championship athletes work on every day, but most sales people are unaware of its benefits. It is what drove Brian Boitano (Former Olympic Gold Medalist) to practice every element of his skating routine 150 times per day.
The "X-Factor" is really each champion's understanding that the margin of victory is nearly always one. Tiger's winning margin in a tournament is frequently 1 stroke; Michael Phelps' margin for the eighth Gold Medal was .01 second; the Steelers won the 2009 Super Bowl by 1 pass reception in the end zone during the final 35 seconds. The list goes on. Champions practice to achieve a Margin of 1. Applying the "X-Factor" to sales skills helps your staff grow from "Good To Great."
The Solution: Prepare To Sell Like A Champion No matter what your company sells, it's likely that you can identify 16 skills that every sales person must practice to the point of mastery in order to acquire the Margin Of 1 that it takes to beat the toughest competition and win the sale.
The Matrix of Mastery explains why practicing new skills are so important. I did not develop the matrix, and I don't know whom to credit, but I believe strongly in its application in perfecting the new sales skills needed to increase sales productivity.
In The Beginning
• Sales people are unconsciously incompetent at using a new, essential skill, i.e. they are incompetent and don't know it.
After Enlightenment
• Sales people are consciously incompetent, i.e. they are aware of their incompetence, but haven't yet improved the new skill.
After Extensive Practice
• They become consciously competent, i.e. they can apply the skill successfully as long as they think about doing so.
After Mastery
• Sales people are unconsciously competent, i.e. they are an expert at applying the Margin Of 1 (the "X-Factor") without even thinking about it as their productivity increases.
C:CE/STI/The X Factor.pdf 2
"Amateurs practice a skill until they can do it right. Professionals practice until they can't do it wrong." Anon.
As I indicated earlier, Champion athletes are guided by the matrix, but it may be a new idea to your sales people. Your enthusiasm and support for identifying new skills and mastering the essential skills for winning will encourage the members of your team to become World Class.
Here's How We Can Help
The published results of nearly 20 studies of high performance sales people have identified 16 skills and attitudes that are their secrets. I will be happy to e-mail the list to you along with an explanation of how our proprietary assessment can help you identify which of the 16 are currently being used effectively by your salespeople to win sales and which are currently being used ineffectively, causing the unnecessary loss of sales.
Conrad Elnes
STI International®
Email: celnes@salesinstitute.com
Phone: 1.800.784.1552
Web: http://www.salesinstitute.com
