Week 14: SHOWMANSHIP!
Welcome to “The Show.”
This is the most sophisticated marketplace the world has ever known.
What worked once upon a time offers no guarantee that it will be accepted or even tolerated in this marketplace.
I talk and write a lot about selling PROFESSIONALS.
And I use that terminology for specific reasons. It’s not about SALES it’s about SELLING. It’s not what’s happened in the PAST TENSE it’s about a PROCESS that requires all of us to CONTINUE in our improvement of our craft. And the word PROFESSIONAL is often misunderstood to mean PERFORMANCE or performing at a high level. Not true…at least not in every case.
Look up the word PROFESSIONAL in the dictionary. I know you think you already know what it means, but you might be surprised. I could tell you the definition here but it’ll do more for you if you look it up on your own.
For years I’ve heard selling professionals trumpet their years of EXPERIENCE. “I’ve got 10 years experience or 20 years experience or…” And what this seemed to be for them was some sort of FREE PASS to more sales or more commissions or more SOMETHING, even though many of them haven’t read a book or learned anything new or really practiced their craft or had a new idea in YEARS.
Don’t expect your EXPERIENCE in anything to compensate for NOT LEARNING something new.
In an interview with my friend and selling/speaking legend Charlie “Tremendous” Jones a couple years ago, Charles shared another golden TRUTH when he pointed out the difference between THE BEST and all the rest.
“Michael, it doesn’t matter what you’ve LEARNED. What really matters now is what are you LEARNING?”
Again, not what’s past, but what’s NOW. How are you and I engaged in getting better today and for our future successes?
EXPERIENCE isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it’s no substitute for learning and it’s certainly not the only ingredient in winning the selling game today. Learning something NEW can mean UNLEARNING or letting go of something that’s PAST or no longer works to make room for new ideas and new ways.
“True showmanship is creative. It has, as the name implies, a certain entertainment value.
It demands ingenuity and a good sense of timing.”
—Napoleon Hill, A Year of Growing Rich
Think about Broadway, Hollywood, Disney World, or Las Vegas…and then think about what all those “selling professionals” are known for? Without selling tickets AGAIN TODAY they are all out of business.
Doesn’t matter how many people have been there once upon a time if they can’t get them to come back again. Or can’t get someone new to see their show for the first time….SHOWMANSHIP is critical, and so is trying new things, new ways, new ideas, in creative an ingenious fashion.
The first time I saw “The Lion King” as a Broadway show I was mesmerized. Who could think of costumes like this? This transformation from an animated kids movie to a Broadway play? Likewise the first time I saw a Cirque de Soleil show (which I really did not want to attend, but finally gave in…and then returned twice more over time to see with friends). Study SHOWMANSHIP and “The Show.” You can see it in stores and businesses and even in individuals who set a certain tone or create a desired emotional effect or image. Zig Ziglar once told us “If you wanna GO UP, you gotta’ DRESS UP.”
It’s still a safer bet in selling to be OVERDRESSED than to find yourself in a setting where you are most certainly UNDER-DRESSED.
Some will say it doesn’t matter—I disagree, and so do many other selling mentors, coaches, authors, and performers.
However you say it, “DRESS FOR SUCCESS, Dress to IMPRESS,” or any other lesson in showmanship, rest assured that few SHOWS go on with costumes or creating the desired setting for you the audience.
Don’t neglect practicing your “SHOW.”
It’s what I call “The LAW of the Dress Rehearsal.”
But that’s another lesson for another time.
For now the SHOW must go on. Here’s to you and your SHOW and the creativity and ingenuity and timing that leads you to greater…