My wife and I watched the movie Ray a couple of weeks ago
when it came out on DVD. In the movie Jaime Foxx plays the
legendary singer Ray Charles. I was amazed at how Jaime had
captured the essence of Ray Charles. Many times throughout
the movie I wondered if it was Jaime Foxx or Ray Charles I
was seeing on my TV.
When I did research on Jaime Foxx's preparation for the
movie I understood why he had captured Ray Charles so
perfectly. In preparation for Ray, the movie, he adapted
many of Ray Charles' physical characteristics and immersed
himself in Soul, Jazz and Blues recordings to set the mood;
attended classes at the Braille Institute; and spent weeks
during rehearsal and production walking around with his eyes
sealed tight for 12 hours a day, to gain an intimate
understanding of what it really means to be blind.
Many on the set where stunned by how spontaneous and
natural the actor's embodiment of Charles became. But
imitation was never the point for Foxx. "The key word for me
was nuance, because I didn't want to simply impersonate him,"
says Foxx. "Rather, I wanted to capture some part of his
spirit, that's all. There were a lot of little touches which
I tried to layer-his musicality, his warmth, his sense of
balance, his posture-until the physical
side of things all fell into place."
The true story sells itself, and Foxx's interpretation is
so uncanny that lifelong friends of the real Ray expressed
genuine confusion on set.
For all this hard word and dedication Jaime Foxx was paid
millions of dollars and awarded the highest compliment by
the movie industry, an Oscar.
What does this have to do with sales training, everything!
Actors, athletes, doctors and lawyers are paid based on the
amount of preparation in their chosen field. Did Michael
Jordan decide one day he wanted to play basketball and
became an instant superstar? Do the top heart surgeons in
the world one day decide to cut someone open and operate on
their heart?
Of course not!
They all spend years of preparation to become the best in
their field.
Then why do so many sales professionals believe they can
get to the top of their profession without proper
preparation?
During my twenty two years in sales I've watched countless
sales people enter the sales arena with very little
preparation and then not understand why they failed.
I've seen sales people take little time to understand the
product or service they are selling. Sit down to make phone
calls with no idea what to say. Head out on sales
appointments and wing-it. Then go home at five o'clock and
wonder why they can barely pay their bills.
They want to earn top dollar without putting in the effort.
To be a professional in any field requires work. I'm not
only talking about during the work day. I mean extra work at
night and on weekends in preparation for what to say when
you make a call, on a presentation, handling objections,
closing, in all aspects of our profession. I'm talking about
practicing outside the sales arena until you become so
polished; selling becomes second nature, like walking or
driving your car.
The stars in the sales profession spend time outside of
their regular work day in preparation for how to handle
every situation that may arise. They right out exactly what
they will say in those situations and then practice and
rehearse until it flows from their mouth. They don't need to
think about it.
If you truly wish to be a star in the sales profession and
get paid what stars get paid, then do what the stars do.
It's not easy. It requires dedication, commitment and hard
work. However the rewards are great.
If you want to be average and get paid what average sales
people get paid, then wing-it.
Jim Klein is the owner of From The Heart Sales Training. He helps sales professionals attract new clients and
generate
an abundance of referrals so they can increase their
income and enjoy life more.
Click Here Now to sign up
for our free ezine "The Sales Advisor"
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