Although he is a surgeon by trade, Atul Gawande’s book, “A Checklist Manifesto“, offers many lessons for those of us in the sales profession. I was reminded of this by a recent outstanding post by Bob Apollo. I’ll delve into a different aspect of the book as it applies to sales here.
Gawande states: “All learned occupations have a definition of professionalism, a code of conduct.”
“First is the expectation of selflessness”, placing “the needs and concerns of those who depend on us above our own”. To become the “trusted advisor” we strive to be, we must engage with prospects and customers from an “other-focused” perspective. Sure, we have pressure to hit our quota targets, but that should be the result of helping customers solve problems and achieve improved outcomes, not the sole focus when we engage. This may sound trite these days; everybody has read about the need to be customer focused. But do you really feel that in your heart or do you just pay it lip service? Do you even care about the outcomes your sales produce? Do you stick around to find out how well your product or service actually addressed the issues, the reason the customer bought it? The customer didn’t buy to help you make quota!
“Second is an expectation of skill: that we aim for excellence in our knowledge and expertise.” I like that Gawande separates knowledge and expertise. To gain knowledge we need to be proactive in our desire to learn. We need to seek out learning opportunities, and not just the mandatory training offered by our employer (although that’s a good start). Online training that can be completed during off hours, webinars, conferences and peer groups are a few ways we can improve our knowledge. We need to read. There is a wealth of books, blogs and newsletters at our fingertips (literally) that can help us improve. I am constantly amazed at the number of salespeople I talk with who don’t read much or even at all. What are you doing to improve your knowledge? [A note of caution however: with the proliferation of online resources, there is a lot of misinformation out there. #SalesTruth, a new book by Mike Weinberg, helps separate the good from the bad and ugly.]
But knowledge alone is not enough. To gain expertise, we need to apply that knowledge. We need to practice what we’ve learned, constantly. Simply attending training and doing the exercises during the workshop is not enough. We all know it takes considerable repetition to master a skill. That’s why professional athletes practice every day, even on game days! How much time do you spend practicing your sales skills? Do you role play regularly? And Sales Leaders, do you carve out time for your people to practice?
“Third is an expectation of trustworthiness.” Can your customers trust you to do what you say, to deliver what you promise? Can they trust that you really have their best interests at heart? Others gain trust in us through their experiences with us and our reputation. We have to earn our customers’ trust through our actions, not just our words.
“Aviators add a fourth, discipline.” Airline pilots have disciplines and routines they follow, not just once in a while or when they feel like it or “have time”, but every time they fly. They create and review a flight plan with their crew, they run through checklists before takeoff, during flight and before and after landing. We in sales too often lack this sort of discipline. Do you create a written call plan for every sales call? Do you plan and execute territory and account strategies? Do you follow your sales process, being diligent in qualification and discovery before proposing your “solution”? Do you plan your schedule to focus on the most important things (and then actually do them)? Do you own your calendar or do you allow others to dictate your time and priorities? Gawande writes that discipline is hard. But it is necessary if we want to excel as sales professionals!
I encourage you to use this post as a checklist of sorts. How well are you living up to this “Code of Conduct”?
