What is your selling handicap?

When you ask people about their golf handicaps, what they say may depend quite a bit on who's asking and when the next outing is. Sometimes golfers brag about their handicaps as scratch or a low single-digit number when they want to impress someone. However, when they are about to play, their handicap can range well into the double digits, so they have a better chance of taking home a few bucks in a friendly wager.

Wouldn't it be great to have a handicap system to determine the ability of a salesperson? Employers would love that. (Shameless plug here: At Sales Concepts, we have tools to help.) If only there could be an objective way to determine the selling handicap. The sales handicap would reflect how well a salesperson closes, overcomes objections, services accounts, finds new customers, and understands the buying process and personnel involved in the decision to purchase a product or service.

One way to improve your golf handicap is to take lessons. An instructor helps you understand that you will need to close the face of the club upon impact to cure your slice. You may learn how to grip the club or use the proper club for a 100-yard shot to the green from the rough versus the same distance from the fairway. Improving your game can be done using the appropriate technique or club to lower your score. Improving your game is a constant journey. Professional golfers constantly experiment with different strokes, work with coaches, and take lessons to keep them winning tournaments.

Just as golfers of all skill levels practice and take lessons to improve their game, we, as salespeople, need to practice and take classes to improve our selling skills. Like professional golfers (seasoned and less experienced), we need to improve our abilities to win business continuously. Resting on our laurels only degrades our selling skills. We need to refresh our sales game by practicing the fundamentals that made us successful in the first place. Anything less puts us way down the list in terms of wins.