Ready to Go Public? Why You Should Always Practice In Private
My wife, Melissa, and I both look forward to our Saturday morning ritual each and every week.
Every Saturday, we pack up our computers, books, and favorite magazines and take them to our favorite local coffee shop.
We love the atmosphere, the crowd and the owners. It’s our Saturday thing.
This past Saturday we strolled in and ordered our usual drinks—a white chocolate mocha for myself, and a far more complicated beverage for Melissa (think: “When Harry Met Sally”).
We settled in and chatted for a while before breaking out our books and laptops. It was enjoyable as always…until our favorite Saturday hangout turned into a practice room.
You see, in this particular coffee shop, there is a piano. And we always thought it was there more for décor than music until last Saturday.
While Melissa and I leisurely sipped coffee, two female customers decided to play a few notes on the piano. This isn’t unusual (who can resist a piano just sitting there waiting for a player?) and, normally, people plunk out a few notes and then move on.
Not last Saturday.
These gals decided to use our beloved Saturday morning coffee shop as a practice room. They played and sang…and played and sang…and played and played and sang and sang…for over an hour.
It is important to note that during that entire time, they only worked on the first verse of their song. One verse. For one hour. I believe the word you are searching for is “excruciating.”
Melissa and I (well, more me than Melissa—she being way more patient than I am) wanted to pack up and flee to another coffee house. The mind-melting repetition of missed notes combined with off-key singing was crucifying my eardrums.
This was not the Saturday experience I waited all week for!
But we (again, Melissa) decided to wait it out, and I am glad we did because the experience afforded me the opportunity to observe a fascinating result of this unexpected public musical interlude.
Due to these horrifically public and off-putting musical stylings, people felt compelled to remove themselves from the room. They started to leave en masse. Someone may as well have screamed, “FIRE!” or put up a sign reading, “Black mold found here.”
The unwelcome public practice actually repelled people.
This fascinates me because I train and coach salespeople to improve their sales performance. And, it is a universally accepted truth that to improve at anything, you must practice.
So, I often ask sales people how they plan to practice their new skills. And the number one answer I hear is, “I am going to practice on customers.”
Yikes! Practicing on customers is never a good idea!
Just like the gals in the coffee shop needed to practice at home (not in public!), so should you and I. The clunky singing and missed notes that Melissa and I endured last Saturday are akin to awkward sentences and bad timing in a sales presentation.
And similarly, customers will work to get away from an ‘out of tune’ salesperson just as the morning crowd fled the scene at the coffee shop last Saturday.
So, if you do not practice on real, live customers, how should you practice?
Think of how learning to play an instrument: The first step is to get a coach to teach and train you.
Next, implement a daily practice routine. Just like practicing piano or drums, it is crucial that you work on your craft (selling) every day.
What does sales practice look like? Recording yourself is always a good place to start. (Smartphones are handy for this.) How we intend to sound is rarely how we actually sound.
Peer evaluation is another good way to practice. Find someone who will give you truly honest feedback regarding your delivery.
Lastly, realize that room for improvement always exists. Too many sales people stay stuck in a rut using the same selling techniques they learned in 1987, which is sort of like singing only the first verse of a song over and over and…
If Billy Joel, the Piano Man himself, still practices before every concert, then you and I probably should as well.
