RAB Insights

RAB Research Archive

Don't Forget the Fundamentals



My friend Geoff flies a private jet for a business charter company. On a recent visit with him, he was showing me the latest plane he was flying. I noticed the notebook next to his pilot seat, along with a bunch of other lights and buttons that looked fun to touch. Thankfully, we were on the ground. I asked him what the notebook was, and he said it's his book of checklists. Checklists? You've been flying for 30 years, why do you need a checklist? Geoff said: "Because if I make a mistake, people die, so even the things I can do in my sleep are on the checklist, so I don't forget."

Atul Gawande wrote a book called The Checklist Manifesto. The checklist is the way you guard against the fallibility of human memory. According to Gawande, "The reason for checklists is simple: the volume and complexity of knowledge today has exceeded our ability as individuals to properly deliver it to people — consistently, correctly, safely. We train longer, specialize more, use ever-advancing technologies, and still, we fail."

There are no shortcuts to sales success. The good news is that sales is a repeatable process. Once you understand the steps, you simply repeat them.

At RAB, our checklist is the 7-Steps to Selling Success. Each step in the process, when followed sequentially, increases your chances of success.

We have a myriad of tools on our website organized by the 7-Step process. We encourage you to follow this recipe for success.

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.

Source: Jeff Schmidt, RAB