Doing vs Knowing

Each time I work with sales teams or individuals who significantly improve their performances, I receive the same question: What is the secret behind that? Because people cannot believe the simplicity of what we are doing. 

The secret of reaching high performance is that there is no secret. It is just about doing the simple stuff. Some people look for “the secret” while others do. It is as simple as it is.   

While working on the commercial performance of sales teams and sales managers, one of the most common reactions I get is, “Sure, we know that, we know that we should be spending more time with the customers; we know which products we should focus on more, we know…” and it goes on.

I have similar reactions from the sales executives/directors. When I talk about the critical variables of the commercial performance, they sit there still, unimpressed, with an expression on their face telling me, “That’s all? That is nothing new to us!” 

Over the years I spent in selling, with different responsibilities and roles, I realized one thing. Businesses struggle not because they don’t know what to do but because they don’t do what they know. 

That is why it is interesting to see managers being keener to tell me what they know rather than what they do. You can spot them when talking, with sentences starting with “should”. 

“Should sentences” demonstrate the discrepancy between what they know and what they do.

Sounds familiar?

The question is, how to make the shift from “should” sentences to “will” sentences and, even better, “did” sentences? 

Hint: That is why I love coaching