Whether we end up in sales by choice or necessity, a fair amount of salespeople I know admit that it doesn’t come naturally to them.  In fact, a study done in the UK found that more than 30 percent of the salespeople surveyed said they were reluctant to engage others in conversation. When your livelihood is dependent upon engaging others in conversation that can create a real problem!

I was encouraged to get into sales because I was “good with people.”  But I struggled to fit into a role that felt forced and uncomfortable.  After dozens of training programs and vain attempts at imitating the style of others, I began to wonder if I should consider another career because I wasn’t a ‘natural.’  It wasn’t until I began training as an actor that my sales career blossomed and the question of whether or not I was a natural no longer mattered.

Hollywood is full of examples of those who have succeeded despite not being “natural talents.”  Lucille Ball got kicked out of acting school for being “too shy.” Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman were told they were the worst actors at Pasadena Playhouse.   How did they finally succeed?  The same way you get to Carnegie Hall: “ Practice, practice, practice.”   Often what we think of as natural talent is the result of years of dedication and training.   Like anyone who is great at what they do, they make it look natural.

So how about it?  Are you a “Natural” salesperson?

One of the most common questions I am asked as an actor is “How do you memorize all of those lines?” Even for someone with a less than perfect memory, that is the easy part.  A tougher question is, “How do you make them sound like your own…performance after performance?”

The actor’s goal is to communicate the message and vision of the writer in a way that engages and affects each audience.  In the same way, our goal as salespeople is to communicate the company’s value proposition in a way that engages each customer and inspires action.  Often this involves using a company produced presentation or sales script.

Salespeople notoriously dislike working with scripts.  Perfectly understandable, since we are rarely given any instruction on how to properly learn them or deliver them with any kind of authenticity or style that showcases our personality. While actors learn a variety of techniques for taking the words “off the page” and bringing them to life, salespeople are handed a script, instructed to memorize it and hit the phones or the street.  No wonder many of us sound like we’re doing bad Shakespeare or, shunning the script entirely, improvise our way through it in vague and inconsistent manner.

Mastering the art of delivering a script or presentation will dramatically improve your chances of closing a sale, so take the time to learn a few do’s and don’ts of script-reading techniques from acting pros:

1. Don’t jump to memorization.   The first thing most sellers (and many amateur actors) do when they get a script or presentation is give it a cursory read before going straight to memorization.  When a good actor first gets a script he reads it through several times, allowing thoughts, ideas and questions to develop naturally as he gets more familiar with it.  Improper and immediate memorization is one of the biggest mistakes salespeople make when working with a script and a primary reason they end up sounding canned and insincere.
2. Don’t pre-determine how to say it. A trained actor does not try out specific line readings or emphasis until he knows precisely what he is saying and why (see #3.)  Good actors rarely deliver their lines exactly the same way every time.  Pre-determining where to pause, apply emphasis or gesture creates a habitual and mechanical delivery that is tough to break. When you are connected to the words, focused on the moment and listening and responding to your prospect, you should sound fresh and different each time.
3. Do know your intention. Forget the actual words themselves and focus on the meaning of each line.  What are you really saying?  Why are you saying it?  Think about the subtext.  If you are a real estate broker and ask a prospective client who is trying to sell his house on his own, “What are you doing to market your home?” are you really hoping to pick up some new marketing tips?  Or are you trying to make the point that without proper marketing, their home is not likely to sell?  I’m guessing it’s the latter.
4. Don’t leave any sentence unturned.  If you don’t understand what you’re saying or why you’re saying it, neither will your prospect.  If you quote figures or statistics and don’t know where they came from, stop and investigate before proceeding.  If you stumble over a particular word or phrase, research it or revise it.  Familiarizing yourself fully with your script will increase your self-confidence and allow you to explain any points if necessary.
5. Do rehearse properly. It’s a common misconception that over-rehearsing a script will cause you to sound phony or canned, when precisely the opposite is true.  In theater, there is no such thing as too much rehearsal.  An actor might rehearse anywhere from six to twelve weeks for a typical show.  A script or presentation – whether it’s on the Broadway stage or business stage — is a fluid, evolving thing.  You should know your lines so well that you don’t have to struggle for the words or meaning.  Only then can you focus your energy on delivering your message in an impactful and persuasive manner while remaining flexible enough to adjust to your prospect’s verbal or nonverbal responses.

When it’s done right, reading from a script should look and feel natural and new each time. If you want to effectively engage and move your prospects to take action, don’t leave it to chance.  You can bring even the dullest of business scripts to life and inject your personality into them by learning a few tricks of the acting trade.

What is your most powerful sales tool?  Your website?  Your video brochure?  Your multi-media presentation in 3-D?  While all of these can support your message, the answer lies much closer to home.  YOU are your most powerful sales tool. It’s not so much what you say as how you say it that influences other people.  Studies show that 55% of what is communicated to others comes from our body language, 38% from the sound and quality of our voice and a shockingly low 7% comes from the words themselves. If you are relying strictly on the “what” to do the selling, you are very likely to be outsold by someone who has also mastered the “how.”

Actors refer to this as their “instrument.”  A professional actor would never walk out onto a stage without warming up their instrument to make sure they are communicating at their best.  They know that once the curtain rises or the camera rolls, they must be “on” or risk losing their audience.  In sales, you have an audience as well:  Your client or prospect.   Don’t risk losing them by spending those crucial first minutes working the kinks out of your performance and getting your brain and mouth in gear.  Lack of preparation may be the only thing keeping you from effectively engaging, communicating and persuading.

An actor’s warm-up is a great place to look for tips on how to prepare for a sales call or business presentation.  Spending as little as seven minutes in the morning doing the following simple exercises can make a huge difference in your ability to communicate at your highest potential throughout the day.

1. Proper Breathing:  Communication starts with the breath.  If you’re feeling the stress these days (and who isn’t?) it’s probably affecting the way you breathe.  You may remember from second grade music class that proper breathing is from the diaphragm, but most of us have long forgotten to put that into practice.  Place a hand under your rib cage and breathe in until you feel it moving out. This deep breathing gets the oxygen flowing.  Do a couple of these before you pick up the phone or go into a meeting and you will feel more relaxed and mentally sharper.
2. Release Tension: Tension is the enemy of good communication; it keeps you from delivering your message as naturally and persuasively as you could.  Often we hold tension in our bodies without even being aware of it. Do a tension check to get rid of any hidden tension by tensing up each muscle group in your body, holding the tension for ten seconds, then releasing it.
3. Find your true voice: Most of us are not using the full range of our voice.  We get rushed and talk too quickly.  We get stuck in a higher or lower range than is suitable for us.  We lack vocal variety or clarity.  There are many working parts that go into creating the tone, volume and overall quality of our voice.  It’s important to warm up each part so that you are communicating at your best.  Here are a few quick exercises to help you find your true voice:  For the lips:  Say “ba-ba-ba pa-pa-pa” and repeat.  For the tongue: “ta-ta-ta da-da-da” For the back of throat: “ka-ka-ka ga-ga-ga.”  Try some tongue twisters.   Say each one of the following several times in a row, getting faster: “Sushi chef, sushi chef, sushi chef…” “Worldwide web, worldwide web… …” “Unique New York, unique New York…”
4. Energize Your Body: A lack of energy can drain the impact out of the strongest of messages.  Make sure your body is engaged before you engage your mouth.  Do some quick stretches, jog in place, shake a leg, do the hokey pokey.  Do whatever it takes to get the blood flowing and wake up your muscles.
5. Connect your voice to your body: Don’t be a talking head; your body should support your voice and your message.  Incongruent movement or vocal delivery make people nervous.  Try these exercises to bring it all together:  Make a fist and punch the air while shouting a hard consonant sound like “pa” or “ba.” Imagine throwing your voice to the other side of the room with each jab.  Say your sales pitch as you jump around the room, dance or throw punches.

In order to perform at their best, professional athletes don’t show up for the game without stretching, professional singers don’t go on stage without vocalizing, so why should we, professional salespeople, go on the business stage without warming up?  If you want to give a memorable and persuasive performance, take a cue from actors and develop a consistent training program for your most important sales tool: You.

YouTube is the number two search engine. Video gets a higher SEO ranking than other content.  Video allows prospects to see more of your personality and determine if you are a right “fit” for their business. Your competitors are on YouTube.  As a business owner or salesperson today, there are many good reasons to create a video and launch it out to the two billion daily viewers on YouTube.  There are also a lot of good reasons not to. Make sure you are not guilty of the following before investing time and energy into creating a video presence.

You should NOT be on YouTube if:

1.  You are not “camera ready”:

The camera is unforgiving.  It can show you at your best…and at your worst.  Don’t assume that because you are good in front of a “live” customer or group that it will translate to video. Speaking to a camera is an unnatural act and in order to appear natural, there are specific techniques you must master.  Techniques beyond hitting “play” and “record”. YouTube is full of well-meaning professionals awkwardly struggling through their message.  While this unpolished, off-the-cuff style may be appropriate if you’re doing a personal video, a spoof or trying to appeal to a young demographic, in the business world, most customers are not impressed by amateur hour.  Learning the right techniques for speaking to a camera can showcase your personality and greatly enhance your message without having you come across as staged or phony.  As an actor I worked with some great coaches before I was able to communicate naturally and convincingly with a camera staring me in the face.  As a businessperson, no one expects this to be your forte.  Do yourself–and your business–a favor and get professional assistance.

2.  You don’t make a fast first impression:

More than two million minutes of video is uploaded on YouTube every day.  What is going to make yours stand out? As I wrote in an earlier article, you have Seven Seconds to make a first impression.  If you missed it,click here.* Nowhere is a first impression more critical than in video where viewers can turn you off with a click of their mouse the second you lose their attention.  Most people take too long to get to the good stuff.  You need to grab viewers at the outset with compelling content and an engaging, professional delivery.  Keep in mind that the average YouTube video is 2.23 minutes in length.  I don’t know about you, but I rarely watch even the most popular videos in their entirety.  Don’t wait too long to “warm up” or your audience will be long gone.

3.  You’re a one-hit wonder:

New content is king.  According to data from TubeMogul, the average half-life of a YouTube video is six days.  This means that your video gets 50% of its views in the first six days it is on the site.  After twenty days, your video has had 75% of its total views. You can’t rely on a single video to carry your message indefinitely.  Be consistent in your plan and keep the pipeline filled with new content.  Ideally you should put out a new video every two to three weeks­­­–­­­­a demanding schedule for most business people.  Make it easier on yourself by scheduling a one-day shoot, getting several videos “in the can” and working with a professional to help you create fresh content and make sure you deliver it at your best.

4.  Your message isn’t unique:

Sure, some of us will watch celebrities or sports figures talk about anything from their favorite food to their shoe size, but the reality for the rest of us mere mortals is this: If you don’t have something different to say or a different way of saying it, you’re not going to get viewers or business.  Think about what makes your message unique.  Ask yourself what would compel you to watch a video about your business, product or service.  Check out the hot topics in your industry’s social networking discussion groups.  What can you do to make yourself stand apart?

It’s tempting to just “throw something together,” but remember video is (almost) forever.  One bad video can undo a dozen good ones.  Take the time to learn proper techniques so you don’t end up just another YouTube casualty.

Click here for more information on on-camera video training programs for business and sales professionals.

It took me three months to close my first sale.  I was working for the third-ranked Top 40 station in the market, KS-104, home of the Cash Cow.  (Yes, I have just bravely dated myself.)  This presented a unique set of challenges, namely, how to differentiate yourself when playing the same forty songs over and over, however why they didn’t fire me for taking so long to close a sale remains a mystery.

I came from the buying side of the industry and carried over that analytical, methodical approach to my new career.  I would spend days researching and preparing for a meeting.   Hours getting ready for a phone call.  Even cold calls required a full study of the prospect’s industry, market and competition.  Finally my sales manager sat me down and told me in no uncertain terms, “You have to get more irons in the fire.  Use a shotgun, not a rifle.”  Not being a pistol-packing member of the NRA, I wasn’t sure where he was going with the gun metaphor.  When it was explained to me that a rifle was effective at hitting one potential target while a shotgun could cover a wider range more efficiently, I realized that I had become quite masterful with the rifle but I had better learn some shotgun skills…and fast.

My first attempts at using a shotgun approach were awkward at best.  I felt uncomfortable making a call without having extensive knowledge of a particular client or industry.  I felt absolute pain submitting a proposal that wasn’t thesis quality.  But when I realized that much of my research was being wasted on prospects that weren’t likely to buy or that my thoughtfully prepared “thesis” was often relegated to the circular file, I began to see the value of the shotgun.   As my client list grew, I found I didn’t have time to do the type of in-depth research I was used to.  Meeting more people meant turning things around at a more rapid pace and letting go of some of that control that had fueled my confidence.  I had to learn to trust my judgment and soon I had the experience to back it up.  Improv training was instrumental in helping me learn how to “sell on my feet.”  If you missed my article on how to effectively use improv in sales, click here.

I think we all have a propensity toward over or under preparation.  We’re either more comfortable toting a shotgun or a rifle.  But there are times when one style is more suitable than the other.   During these times, I suggest you have your rifle ready to go.  The easy targets are scarce: budgets have dried up, businesses have cut back or closed.  The chances of hitting something with a haphazard spray of cold calls, emails or mass mailings are slim.  The big game has been over-hunted as well, but if you’ve carefully identified your target, qualified them and discovered how you can help solve their problems, your chances of winning a sale are greatly improved.  While the rifle approach is about doing the research to more precisely hone in on your target and take careful aim, don’t fall into the trap I did.  You have to know when to put the research down and pull the trigger.  You don’t have to be an expert on the client’s business or industry, just an expert on yours and how you can impact their business.  As an interested outsider with a unique perspective you can offer fresh and often unexpected solutions.

Choose your weapon carefully.  Become proficient with both the rifle and shotgun approach and know when to use them.  Had I not, I might still be working on closing my second sale.