One-Minute Rehearsal

by Graham Denton

Many top athletes prepare themselves mentally before entering their events: They visualize the sequence of moves that they would make in a perfect event and thus "rehearse" them before they actually begin. Spencer Johnson and Larry Wilson, authors of The One Minute Sales Person, recommend a similar exercise for the professional seller. Before you go into any sales call, they say, walk yourself mentally through a "one minute rehearsal."

Because Johnson and Wilson believe that attitude is everything, they urge you to concentrate not on the business issues that you'll be discussing (presumably, you've already got those under control), but on the emotional connection that you intend to establish with the customer. Many people do something like this, but they focus on the negatives: they go over the objections that the customer might make and try to rehearse a game plan for what might go wrong. What you should do, say Johnson and Wilson, is to preview a connection where everything goes right.

There are three parts to a good one-minute sales call rehearsal. The first is "A Walk in the Other Person's Shoes." Here you visualize taking off your own "shoes" and experiencing the call from the customer's point of view. You recall how you feel when you're a customer, and when you're anticipating a sales scenario that leaves you feeling good. You imagine yourself as the customer, feeling fully satisfied, confident that she's gotten good value and can count on good service.

The second part is called "The Advantages." Here you turn mentally to the benefits of your product or service. You see in your mind how they'll solve this customer's problem, and you see him or her appreciating that important connection.

In the final part of the rehearsal, you provide "The Happy Ending." This will vary depending on the situation, but again the key is to see it from the customer's point of view. The person you're calling on is "the hero" of the one-minute rehearsal. "The more you see yourself focusing on what he wants, the more quickly you will help him buy."

Is the One-Minute Rehearsal an inspirational gimmick? Sure. But don't write it off as only that. There's a body of research data that indicates clearly that the picture you anticipate is the one you get, whether you're working in upscale selling or downhill skiing. Visualizing your prospects getting what they want may seem like a New Age way of preparing for a call, but it has a psychologically compelling and practical value. Somehow it nurtures the mindset that you must have to convey your confidence and enthusiasm to those prospects.

That's not in itself enough to guarantee a great call. But without it, you'll go into the call at a major disadvantage, prone to the doubts and fears that plague all salespeople and that may subtly dampen that confidence and enthusiasm. As pat as it may sound, there's truth to the old saying "What you see is what you get." "The exciting reality," say the authors of The One-Minute Sales Person, "is that we can create and play the mental movies of our choice. That's power."