How many times have you heard or read, that you only achieve mastery in your field once you’ve done it for 10,000 hours? It’s not true. And if you’re hoping that I’m going to share five secret ways you can shortcut it, sorry, I’m not.
The Real Meaning of 10,000 Hours
10,000 hours is often cited as the baseline for achieving mastery. However, as Daniel Goleman discusses in his book “Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence,” merely putting in 10,000 hours isn’t enough. The key is to spend those hours under the guidance of a coach. Doing something badly hours upon hours without feedback will only lead to more poor performance. Research shows that it’s the combination of time and expert coaching that leads to true mastery. Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.
Implications for Sales Leaders
The implications for sales leaders are profound. As a sales leader, it’s not just your responsibility; it’s an occupational imperative to accompany your salespeople on their sales calls, whether in person or via Zoom. However, simply being present isn’t enough. The feedback you provide during these calls is crucial. Avoid taking over the conversation; instead, focus on offering constructive feedback that helps your team grow and improve.
Critical Questions for Sales Leaders
Here are three groups of questions to ask yourself as you ride along:
- Opening the Call:
- How did the salesperson open the call?
- Did they clearly state their goal for the meeting, or did they spend five minutes on small talk?
- Showing Genuine Curiosity:
- Did they show genuine curiosity with a plan?
- Were their Customer Needs Analysis (CNA) questions well researched and well-phrased?
- Did they listen without a filter?
- Did they take good notes?
- Presenting with Confidence:
- When they presented did fill the room with their confidence?
- Did they know their material?
- Were they able to reset the situation analysis for the client well?
- Did they identify a SMART objective for their campaign or solution?
- Was their solution compelling?
- Did they ask for the order?
- If the answer wasn’t yes or no, did they contract for next steps with the client?
Leading Your Salespeople to Mastery
Your industry is counting on you to lead your salespeople to mastery. They can’t get there on their own. I only single out these client facing functions because I think this is where we fail our salespeople the most. But it happens in 1:1s, too.
Effective 1:1s
If you find yourself clicking boxes on your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system with your Account Executive (AE) and calling it good, you’re not leading. 1:1s need to be interrogations about their clients, their funnels, where they get stuck in the process. Sales is an iterative learning process—you only learn by doing. Therefore, one-on-one sessions need to be full of hands-on practice.
Now get out there and do it!
