Practice Makes Perfect

The best sports legends have always been those that took their talent and developed it, day in and day out. Practice is what made them successful, and it's the same for top sales professionals. This story from sales trainer Dave Kahle is a perfect example.

"Having spent most of my adult life in Michigan, I have naturally grown to be a fan of the Detroit professional sports teams," says Kahle. "Basketball is my favorite, and I've been a Pistons fan since before the Bad Boys. As you may know, the Bad Boys were world champions for a couple of years in the 80's. Isaiah Thomas was the leader of the team. He was at the top of his game - most valuable player on the world championship team."

"During that time, he built a house in Detroit, and added an indoor basketball court. When asked about it by a local newspaper reporter, he replied that he often woke up in the middle of the night and used the basketball court to practice his free throws."

"Imagine that. The most valuable player of the world championship team practicing the most basic shot in the game in the middle of the night. Why would he do that? Probably because he was not a 100 percent free throw shooter. No matter how good he was, he knew there was room for improvement, and that he could become better yet."

"That belief, that you are not as good as you could be, that there is always room for improvement, is one of the marks of the best salespeople," says Kahle.

"The world is full of mediocre salespeople who don't care enough about their own performance to spend any time or money improving themselves. My own experience is that only one out of twenty salespeople has spent $25 of their own money on their own improvement in the last 12 months."

"While that certainly is an indictment of their lack of professionalism, it also represents an incredible opportunity for those who want to excel. Image how competent you could become, relative to your competitors, if you regularly spent time, money and effort improving your sales skills! What an opportunity!"

Vince Lombardi once said, "We will pursue perfection, knowing that we will never attain it. But in the striving for perfection, we will catch excellence." "The best salespeople continually pursue perfection, knowing that in the striving for it, they will catch excellence," says Kahle. "And excellence is rewarded by greater competence, greater confidence, and a more robust standard of living."

Dave Kahle is the President of the DaCo Corporation, specializing in helping business-to-business companies increase sales and develop their people. Learn more at www.davekahle.com