The 20-minute daily habit that could boost your sales

Brush your teeth, do your hair and potentially go to the gym – all daily habits that you do without question but that are an essential part of how you present to others. For a sales professional, rehearsing your brand message and delivery should be no different. If you take pride in the way you present and the results you achieve, practising your delivery should be part of your daily routine.

There is an assumption among many sales professionals that selling prowess is something that comes naturally, that it’s tied to your personality and is a skill you either have, or you don’t. But this is a short-sighted and self-limiting way to look at it. “A sales professional who doesn’t practice and work on themselves will experiment on prospects and clients, which isn’t good for business,” says Peter Strohkorb, a B2B sales growth expert. “Someone who works on themselves, takes pride in their development, and who looks after their skill set is by far a better sales professional than someone who just wings it.”

When it comes to sales effectiveness, particularly when targeting new business, Strohkorb says, “The greatest inhibitor is a sales person’s inability to communicate their organisation’s value message.” Not just a case of being able to accurately communicate it, this message needs to be delivered in a way that appears natural – not regurgitated verbatim. “Just learning words alone won’t cut it,” says Strohkorb. “Sales professionals need to make the words their own and make them reflect their personality. Rehearsing with peers and colleagues is essential to getting this right.”

By practising for 20 minutes per day and receiving real-time feedback through the 60 Seconds app, sales professionals can improve their delivery and the overall experience they provide to clients. And what’s more, this 20-minute practise can be done anywhere, anytime.

The benefits of rehearsing are two-fold, explains Strohkorb. “It’s a win-win if sales people hone their skills, have their value proposition down pat and have rehearsed their delivery well. The win for sales people is that they are more likely to advance and close the sale faster, and for customers it is that they receive a better service experience, which will make them more likely to buy from that sales person.”