When you get to this stage, three things happen to you: first, your motivation disappears; second, your frustration rises; and third, you start to doubt yourself. You begin to have second thoughts about even being a sales professional. You talk to yourself by saying, “Oh, I should have stayed in customer service. Selling is a lot harder than anyone led me to believe!” This is the stage where you put pressure on yourself. Zig Ziglar says this is the stage where you develop “stinkin’ thinkin’.” You start to overly criticize yourself. Who is your worst critic? Of course, you are…unless you are married. (Just kidding: marriage is grand…divorce is four hundred grand!)
Two important points: First, it’s okay to be at this stage, it is NOT okay to stay there. You need to progress through this stage. When you do, you will be more confident and feel better about yourself. Second, you need to know how to get out of this stage. Once again, my mentor, boss and friend Zig can help us out here. Zig suggests you keep a victory list to remind you of your past successes. This victory list should include the things that gave you the most satisfaction and confidence. As you review your victory list you will be reminded that you have succeeded in the past and you are capable of succeeding in the future! You really should create victory list.
The third stage of growth is the point where you know you know. This is called Consciously Competent. At this stage you can be productive. It is still not second nature to you, you are still not on “auto pilot,” but you know what is required to succeed and you perform those tasks at a conscious level. After a while you will acquire the skills, techniques, and experiences to deliberately use the telephone to schedule sales appointments.
The fourth stage of growth is the stage where you are so good at something you reach the point you don’t know that you know. This is called Unconsciously Competent. Now you are on “auto-pilot.” Athletes call it “being in the zone.” Oftentimes, new salespeople are in this stage in the area of building rapport and relationships with others. They are referred to as “people people.” You know these types. They have never met a stranger. These are the people who talk on an elevator when they are the only ones on the elevator! They just take to people naturally and others are drawn to them. These salespeople couldn’t tell you how they engage others in conversations; they just seem to have a knack for it.
Sometimes salespeople are referred to as “natural-born salespeople.” If that’s the case, they are usually in the Unconsciously Competent stage. They can produce activities and behaviors that lead to sales effectiveness. I am very jealous of that. The reason I am jealous is that I am NOT a natural-born salesman. It required a lot of trial and error on my part to be an effective salesman. In fact, if I rated my sales skills on Four Stages of Growth, I would accurately rank myself solidly in the Consciously Incompetent and Consciously Competent stages. For me, selling was an acquired skill. It was not a natural skill for me. I had to move up the steps in very small increments. However, I am glad I did because I think I am a better salesperson because of those incremental steps.
In my sales seminars I often tell the participants I am in the middle two stages of the growth chart. I also tell the participants that I am so excited about being at those stages because I still have plenty of room for growth and improvement. You see, after 40 years as a sales professional, I am still growing. My greatest victories as a salesperson are ahead of me. I am excited about that! You should be excited, also. Your future is ahead of you as well!
Let me use a sports analogy. Let’s take my two boyhood heroes, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams. Mickey Mantle is a Hall of Fame Baseball player. He hit 536 home runs and an additional 18 in World Series competition. He was a natural hitter. It was difficult for Mickey to move from Unconsciously Competent down to Consciously Competent. He was never a hitting instructor for the New York Yankees. You see, when he got into a sales slump, I mean, when he got into a batting slump, he couldn’t move down to the Consciously Competent level and self-correct. No, when he experienced a batting slump he had to hit his way out of the slump. One of his biggest regrets was that he didn’t end his career as a .300 hitter, one measure on which major league players are evaluated.
On the other hand, my other hero, Ted Williams, hit .344 as a lifetime batting average which is 46 points higher than Mickey’s average. Williams hit 521 home runs, was the last player to hit over .400, and was arguably the greatest hitter in the history of the major leagues. Ted Williams was also Unconsciously Competent. However, Williams had the ability to move down to the third level to Consciously Competent. He could self-correct. His batting slumps were shorter in duration than Mickey’s. Ted even wrote the book The Science of Hitting.
The challenge with natural-born salespeople is the same that natural-born athletes face: when things aren’t going well, what do they do? Can the natural-born salesperson move down a level to Consciously Competent? Sometimes it is more difficult for them because they did not spend a lot of time in the Consciously Competent level when they were learning to sell.
So, if you aren’t an Unconsciously Competent salesperson, there is hope. Yes, you too can grow into being an effective sales producer. Just continue to grow and invest in yourself.
Here is a mistake we make in sales departments. We often ask the superstar salesperson to coach the rookie salesperson. If the superstar is Unconsciously Competent and can’t move back to the Consciously Competent level, this superstar will not be a very good coach. This only works if the rookie is a “clone” of the superstar. That is rarely the case. It is important for new salespeople to receive instruction from a coach who is Consciously Competent so that the coach can teach the skills the rookie needs to learn.
An important concept about the Four Stages of Growth: you model from Stage Four (Unconsciously Competent) and you coach from Stage Three (Consciously Competent).
The Four Stages of Growth Exercise
This exercise requires you to be very honest with yourself. No one else needs to see your answers. This is a three-part exercise.
1 Choose a selling skill that is needed for you to be successful.
2 Rate your proficiency in that skill on the growth chart. Are you at the second level, the third level...?
3 Provide evidence to support why you rated yourself at that stage.
Here's a personal example: My skill is prospecting.
I rank myself at the third level, Consciously Competent.
The evidence: I attend networking organizations and provide 10-minute training topics. I gather the attendees' business cards and conduct a drawing by giving away Ziglar products. I then bring the business cards back to the office and distribute to the sales representatives.
I have met the three requirements: I chose a skill, prospecting. I rated myself at the third stage, Consciously Competent. I then provided specific evidence to support the ranking.
Your turn:
Skill:______________________________________________
Rate:_______________________________________________
Evidence:___________________________________________
The following story illustrates the importance of this exercise. A few years ago I was called into a client’s office to work with the new life insurance agents. As the participants were engaged in the exercise, I walked up to a young man named Troy. I asked what skill he chose. Here is the conversation that followed.
Troy: “Same as yours. I chose prospecting.” Bryan: “Where did you rank yourself?”
Troy: “Well, I rated myself as Consciously Incompetent. I’m not good at prospecting and I know I’m not good!”
Bryan: “Okay. What