Following the Recipe

My son-in-law Bryce is the executive chef at a local restaurant. Watching him work is magical. He has no books, no charts and seemingly no organization as he flies around the kitchen whipping up amazing meals. I’ve never known Bryce to use a recipe. He’s that good.

Next week, we are conducting our final Radio Sales Essentials virtual online training event for 2021. You can sign up here. Those who have participated know that we share the four levels of learning any new skill:

Unconscious incompetence – You don’t know what you don’t know

Conscious incompetence – You know what you don’t know

Conscious competence – You know it, and you’re doing it

Unconscious competence – You’ve forgotten what you know and you’re just working on instinct

Bryce works on instinct. He doesn’t need a recipe. For those of us just learning to cook, sell or are practicing any new skill for that matter, we need some guidance. At RAB, we teach that sales is a repeatable process – the 7 Steps To Selling Success. Those who are new to the business can dramatically cut down the learning curve of making mistakes by following the 7 Steps.

There are no shortcuts in sales. It takes time, persistence, professionalism and a lot of other traits. The good news is you don’t have to go it alone. There is someone in your company, and often on your team, that is willing to help you. Certainly, your manager is willing to help, but even sellers with more experience love to share their knowledge and experience.

Here’s a little secret, asking for help from an experienced seller not only helps you, but it helps them. They are in unconscious competence, so they’ve forgotten what they know, and they are just acting on instinct. By asking for help, you’re actually helping them to remember the things they did that made them successful.

With the one step forward, two steps back type of year we’ve had, getting back to basics and remembering what made us great in the first place is critically important.

If you’re new to the career of media sales – welcome to the greatest career you’ll ever have. Don’t be shy about asking for help and guidance. We all need it. Not only do you benefit, but so does your guide.

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.