Lego Lessons for Salespeople

Over a sunny August weekend at the beach, I watched my 7-year old nephew, Dylan, assemble his birthday present, a Lego Aqua Raiders set. This Lego is way beyond what the simple Lego design I recall. It was aimed at 8 to 14 year olds and consisted of multiple plastic bags filled with complex small shapes, sizes, and colors and two instruction books, totaling 115 pages of small type and diagrams.

In the past, I’ve seen his dad help him with these difficult tasks but he wanted to do this one himself. Intermittently over the course of 3 days he sat whistling and working away at it.

I was astounded to see the concentration and methodology and I realized there was a lesson there for all of us in sales.

Just as he drew from his resources of among the dozens of the little plastic bags filled with tiny parts, salespeople draw from their resources, research, and experience. He used the instruction book to guide him piece by piece and looked ahead to see where each small design would take him. Salespeople’s set of instructions are their knowledge of the sales process, how to lead a call and follow a call plan. And they must think ahead to their goal.

Dylan would test each piece along the way. Salespeople must seek feedback from customers. Whether Legos or sales, tasks and sequence matters.

Dylan was motivated as he completed each piece by his sense of accomplishment and praise from all of us. When he ran into a snag, he backtracked and made adjustments. Salespeople too must get reinforcement and persist.

So some questions for you — When you are working to close a deal, how does your focus and commitment compare? If you run into trouble, can you regroup? Do you keep going to move forward to win the deal and build the relationship?

A note for sales managers: Aqua Raiders could be a good team building exercise. And if the team gets stuck, find a 7-year old.

-------------------------------------

To learn more about Richardson's comprehensive, customize sales training solutions, please visit us on the web at http://www.richardson.com

Sales Advice from Mad Men

Dan Draper, the “hero” of Mad Men, AMC’s hot Sunday night TV series, is full of sales advice.

Sunday night when he said, “You are the product. You feeling something. That’s what sells,” his idea of selling resonated with me

This has always been true for me. I remember once making a presentation for a colleague whose area of specialization I knew but not deep down as I know sales and sales management. We had no options and I had to make the presentation for him. As I made the presentation and answered questions, I remember thinking my words felt hollow. There was no passion behind them. The presentation was OK, just that OK.

I realized how lucky I am to be selling a product that I really “feel something” for.

How about you? How do you feel about your product? How much does how you feel about your product make a difference in your sales results?

Learn more about Richardson's comprehensive sales training .