Deliberate Practice & The Pursuit of Sales Excellence

Thanks to Ian Brodie, I recently learned about the work of psychologist K. Anders Ericsson from Florida State University. Dr. Ericsson studies expert performance, especially as it is created by what he calls "deliberate practice," i.e. focused practice aimed at improving a particular skill set or desired outcome.

Dr. Ericsson's studies have concluded that expert performance derives mostly from two factors:

1. Regularly obtaining concrete and constructive feedback

2. Deliberate practice

This is fantastic knowledge to have! Now we know what we need to do if we want to achieve expert performance! Read Practice Makes Perfect to learn more about these concepts. 

According to Dr. Ericsson's research, experience alone does not result in great performance (practice is fairly benign as a technique to achieve maximum human performance), but deliberate practice is. This is why accurate, focused, role-playing and other practice tools are effective human performance enhancers for the sales professional.

Sales managers: keep role-playing with your people. Practice deliberately. Do it often, and provide constructive, direct feedback, even if your sales team doesn't like it (One of my favorite compliments to get is when one of my clients or former employees tells me, "When I was with the customer, I could hear your voice in my head, telling me what to do! That's the power of deliberate practice). Direct, constructive feedback should be a priority for all sales managers in their day-to-day work.

If your sales manager isn't providing this kind of feedback, or isn't providing it with the frequency you desire, consider hiring a sales coach or find a mentor who will give you time, attention, and direct feedback. Then listen to it.

Only deliberate, perfect practice makes perfect.

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment, or subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more.