My goal in my Sales Class courses is really two-fold: First and foremost is to teach the class participants how professionals use a process to make sales. Amateurs wing it and professionals have a process and they know why they win the sale, when they win the sale. Meaning they follow a sound process. The second goal in my class: to provide tools and resources that the class participants can apply to their life. Real leadership is first leading yourself. Meaning you do what you ask others to do. Secondly, creating inspiration for others to see that they can become more and have more.
Throughout my class I start with the core of the curriculum and then weave in personal and self-development resources that the class participants can apply to their business, their profession, and their life.
All of my class participants start in 1 of the 4 competencies outlined below. In their sales knowledge and skill as well as their personal development, they all start in 1 of the 4 areas. By the end of the course my goal is to have them at least to the 3rd competency.
They can be:
1. Unconsciously / Incompetent: They don’t know they don’t know. We have all been here before. They have never been trained on a sales process, they have never been coached for improved performance, so they don’t know that this stuff exists.
They then become…
2. Consciously / Incompetent: Meaning they know that they don’t know. The people who fall into this category are a lot of fun, because if they are aware enough to know that they don’t know, they usually really want to be in my course. This applies to life as well. When you can admit that you don’t know something it is usually a great first step in the right direction.
Through the course they become…
3. Consciously / Competent: Meaning they have now learned a process and they are applying it and are aware of what they are doing and have applied some of the skills learned. This is a really good place to be. See most people are not aware of where they are and they don’t even know it. So in my course when a person becomes consciously/competent about the sales process and where their buyer is in the buying decision, it allows them to know what to do next, and by being consciously aware of that you can have more success than you normally would have if you didn’t know what you were doing.
A great example of this is when I play golf. I have to really focus on are my arms straight, is my head down, and my swinging through the ball. As you will see below, the golf professionals are not in this category all of the time, they get to the next level of competency even though we all bounce back and forth between the last two competencies.
When you get here during this process on any new skill or trade it is good place to be, because you now have a foundation and you can build off of it, if you continue to focus on it.
Lastly…
4. Unconsciously / Competent: At this stage you become so good at something that you just do it. You don’t even have to think about. It’s like driving a car. When you get into your car, you just put the key in the ignition and go. But watch a new driver. What do they do? They are a little slower usually aren’t they? They check the mirrors, they adjust the seat, they are just a little slower than those of us who are more seasoned aren’t they. Another good example is this. When Kobe Bryant is dribbling the ball down the lane going for a lay-up and the defender steps in his way. He unconsciously knows he has to crossover the ball to his other hand so the defender doesn’t steal the ball. He doesn’t even have to think about it, he just does it. Its like the professional golfers. They don’t have to think about the little things like I do when they are playing golf. They are unconsciously/competent on those things. They are more worried about other things.
So where are you in your life, your skills, your career. Do you not know what you don’t know? Do you know you don’t know? So what are you going to do about it? Or are you aware and you’re applying the training you have received and maybe you need more. Or are you just so good that you “just do it”. Be aware of where you are, that is always the best first step and then create some goals to get where you want to be. If you don’t know where you are going you just might end up there.
Brian Willett
Leave a Reply