In the early 70’s I was part of a college Judo team. It was grueling work full of exercise and constant learning. The slightest miscalculation could find you flying over an opponent’s shoulder on your way to the floor.
We worked out several nights each week. Sessions started with a new technique, paring off for practice and eventually what the instructor called “free exercise.” Free exercise meant the ranking student worked out with each member and finally with the instructor himself. I happened to be the ranking student, so I finished each class being thrown all over the mat. It was 30 minutes of getting up from the floor.
Now, it happened that there were two students that spent each class working on the next Kata or form. They spent 120 minutes doing a dance of sorts. One would throw the other in a choreographed routine. Their form was perfect. He would throw her, and she would throw him. Both knew the moves and throw or sweep that was being practiced. There were no surprises.
I’m not sure why their routine was carved out from the rest of the class. They never worked on new moves. They never sparred. They never participated in free exercise.
Well, one night the lady part of this pair missed class. Her partner couldn’t do Katas or forms by himself, so he worked out with us. It was clearly new for him from the first moment.
When it got to free exercise he and I paired off. You could see the anxiety on his face. He had never done a technique that wasn’t part of a routine.
A few seconds in, I started a throw. I can still remember the panic in his eyes when he found himself in the air. He was inverted and we were looking each other eyeball to eyeball. He was so startled that he failed to do his break fall. Hitting the floor hurt. You see, he only knew the moves. He didn’t know how to make them work on his behalf.
Now why am I sharing this? What does it have to do with business? What does this judo story have to do with selling stuff?
It reminds me of sales advice I see promoted on social media. Every day I see people posting and sharing how to grow followers. I concede that’s important, but it isn’t the main thing. Knowing how to convert is the main thing. Knowing what to do when people take time to connect is where the rubber hits the road. That’s the skill trainers should be touting.
I have a connection that boasts nearly 200,000 LinkedIn followers. That’s an astounding number…but…he can’t hold a job. He isn’t turning his contacts into benefit for his employers. He knows how to do the Kata, but he doesn’t know how to throw someone that fights back.
Please know that I know sales is a numbers business. The more people you’re connected to the more opportunity you have to sell stuff. I get the math.
But…the skill you really want to develop and the number you need to monitor is conversions. At the end of the day, salespeople are paid for sales, not prospects. Focus on results, not followers. See the world through the contact’s eyes, not yours and ask how you can be a partner.
