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 month (July 11), we are conducting another Radio Sales Essentials virtual online training. You can sign up here. Those who have participated know that we share the four levels of learning any new skill:

1. Unconscious incompetence — you don't know what you don't know

2. Conscious incompetence — you know what you don't know

3. Conscious competence — you know it, and you're doing it

4. 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. But for those of us just learning to cook, sell or are learning 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. Those who are more experienced and who may be in the "forgotten what they know" phase always benefit from the back-to-basics approach.

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 on your team, that is willing to help you. Certainly, your manager is too, but even sellers with more experience love to share their knowledge and experience.

Here's a little secret. You 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. So, you both benefit.