Practice makes sales

Malcolm Gladwell made the “10,000-hour rule” famous in his book Outliers. He chronicles the path of multiple people who became great in sports, music, technology, etc. He shares research that shows that successful people aren’t born with superstar capabilities. Instead they find things they’re passionate about and practice them more than everyone else. In the book Gladwell posits that those people who have practiced something for 10,000 hours or more become great at it.

In the world of sales, there’s ongoing debate about whether sales people are born or made. I’ve heard business leaders say “you’re either a people person or you’re not.” We’ve all heard the stereotype of sales people being naturally outgoing, extroverted people who have the “gift of gab.” I’m here to tell you that it’s all about practice and for me it started way before I got a sales job.   

I started school in the 1960s when America was deep in racial tension. Starting in kindergarten, I was bullied every day, purely due to my race, to the point where I was afraid to go to school. Adding to this I was shy, small and the youngest in my class. My birthday was so late that in most other states I would have been in kindergarten when most of my classmates where starting first grade. So to me, they weren’t just bullies, but big bullies. But from every challenge comes learning and strength.

By second grade I had learned two incredible lessons that have helped me throughout my life. First, the bullies didn’t bully kids they knew. I was good in math and reading. My teachers, Mrs. Feely and Mrs. Mangles, asked me and two other kids to help others with their homework. It turns out that some of those kids I was asked to help were the bullies. Some continued their bullying ways but most figured out I wasn’t the bad person they assumed I should be, given I was Chinese. I learned that helping people was a way to create VISABILITY in the right way. 

By helping, I also earned CREDABILITY and the kids who assumed I was stupid because of my race figured out that it was actually viable for them to learn something from me. I was showing CAPABILITY in teaching and was showing RELIABILITY as a friend. I stopped waiting for teachers to give me direction, but instead looked for opportunities to help people with math and reading.

The second thing I learned was, not as noble but it, nevertheless, was a great lesson. I learned that I had physical abilities that were conducive to self-defense. By second grade, I was tired of getting beat up so I started fighting back. After getting into another fight on the playground our PE teacher, Mr. Bird, asked me to come to his office. I prepared for the worst but I had a surprise in store.  

Mr. Bird was an ex-Marine and while he was muscular, he was small. My guess is he had been on the receiving end of some bullying when he was young. Mr. Bird sat me down and asked, “Where did you learn to punch with both hands?” I didn’t understand the question so he said, “Most people can’t punch with both hands. You’re also faster than most of the kids out there. You may be small but you’re an athlete. Has anyone told you that?” I answered “No.” He went on to tell me that I had to protect myself but that fighting had to be a last resort. He said that showing people you’re an athlete in different ways was a better way to get the bullies to stop. He was right.

As I got more involved in sports the guys who at one time were bullying me were now my teammates. Instead of taking my ball on the playground they’d invite me to play ball with them. In both ways, I created VISABILITY in the right way. I created VISABILITY, VIABILITY and CAPABILITY with former bullies who were now my teammates. By the fifth grade the bullying had pretty much stopped.  

By having to deal with bullies, I was practicing THE FIVE ABILITIES of selling. I practiced how to relate to people and I was finding fun in helping them. I also learned a more meaningful definition of winning which was not beating others but instead getting others to choose me. As Gladwell might say, I started practicing VISABILITY, CREDABILITY, VIABILITY, CAPABILITY and RELIABILITY when I was five years old. Look for people who started practicing when they were young and you’ll find great sales people.

©2013 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities® LLC