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Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

I used to think the saying was just "practice makes perfect" but several things have helped me change that perception. First, I heard Harvey MacKay say several years ago – "what good is it to say practice makes perfect, when you're not doing it right"? Second, the story below brings it all together for me.

A few years back, I had the opportunity to hear NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana speak. One of his topics was about a rookie wide receiver named Jerry who had just come out of college and had reported to the San Francisco 49ers training camp.

Joe shared with us that the 49ers offense was practicing formations and signals from their own 20-yard line. The defense was lined up, but this was not a contact drill. After the play ran for a few yards, the players would flip the ball back to the coaches standing on the field and return to the huddle for the next play.

When the ball was thrown to Jerry, he ran 80 yards uncontested down the side line and into the end zone. After a couple of times doing this, his teammates as well as the coaches gave him a hard time about "show-boating" and slowing down the tempo of practice (since they had to wait for him to return to the huddle after each play). The veteran players accused him of being a "hot dog rookie". Jerry said to his teammates and the coaches that he was merely practicing the way he would play in a game. Why should he practice stopping after her caught the ball, when the object was to score a touchdown? Jerry practiced scoring touchdowns every time he caught the ball.

Two things happened as a result of this comment. (1) Every player started running into the end zone during each practice play. (2) The coaches moved the players to the opposite 20-yard line so they could run more plays (having the players run 20 yards instead of 80).

Jerry Rice went on to have a stellar Hall of Fame career, and is thought by many to be one of the best wide receivers of all time.

Let's practice our skills like it matters – all of the time. Every day is game day!

Have a great sales week!

Flawless Execution of the Perfect Plan

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Flawless Execution of the Perfect Plan… My daughter's epic engagement weekend

Okay - so it's not really a sales tip this time…

For a variety of reasons, Stacy's guard was down on Labor Day weekend. Seth had shared with us a couple of months back that he wanted to propose to Stacy. Somehow, Stacy had discovered that this conversation had taken place, and her radar was up thinking it could be anytime. For the last couple of weeks – she was thinking could this be it?

On Friday of Labor Day weekend, Stacy thought she had a Doctor's appointment (in Washington, DC) in the late afternoon to review some new medication that was coming onto the market. When she arrived at the Doctor's office, she found out there was no appointment (Seth had scammed her) and a car was waiting for her to take her back home to pack - and onto the airport. Her surprise, she was going to Phoenix for the long weekend. Stacy hadn't been home for several months, missed us (and especially our dog). However, she didn’t think we were going to be home that weekend. Seth was still at work and staying in DC for the weekend to visit friends coming in from out of town, and knew how much she wanted to go to Phoenix. Seth and Stacy see the same doctor, so this part was easy to plan.

Phoenix was in the middle of a few days of thunderstorms, and luckily Stacy’s flight was on time. I picked her up from the airport and took her to the restaurant for dinner. She thought my wife and son were going to be meeting us there. As we were being shown to our seats, I realized I left my cell phone in the car and had to go back to get it. In the meantime, the host took Stacy to the table and I got back into my car and left the restaurant.

Surprise!!! It was Seth at the romantic table behind a curtain with flowers and the ring… and the rest is history (…she did say "yes").

Seth's flight had arrived a few hours before Stacy's, so he had time to finalize the logistics. This was so cool! Everything worked out perfectly – and both families are very happy! Special thanks to McCormick and Schmick's in Scottsdale for helping us execute this plan.

Okay – that is my sales tip – it's all in the planning!

Have a great sales week!