Role-play. Two words that can send even the most confident sales rep racing for the nearest exit. Traditional sales role-play conjures up every actor’s nightmare of stepping into the spotlight without knowing his lines while the chief critic watches from the front row.
Role-play can be extremely valuable for helping sales reps internalize knowledge and practice new skills, but the results of traditional sales role-play are questionable at best. With expectations high, circumstances vague (“Ok, Sarah, you’re the salesperson. Keith you’re the customer…Go!”) reps go into survival mode, regurgitating back information in an effort to win management’s approval. The result is a performance that has little resemblance to how the salesperson actually shows up on a real sales call.
A Dramatically Better way to Role-play
As an actor, I was startled by the contrast between the way role-play was conducted in the theater vs. the conference room. In the theater, role-play was used as a rehearsal tool in the development of one’s character. It was an opportunity to not just learn lines, but to explore different choices and behaviors, and experience the consequences of those choices in a safe environment. Traditional sales role-play, however, is often a test or evaluation. Even when it’s served up as “practice,” the underlying expectations of perfection are palpable.
In the theater, actors are provided with the specific details about the “scene” they will be working on in order to act as authentically as possible under imaginary circumstances. Sales reps, on the other hand, are often thrust into a scene with little background and expected to “improvise” – with little if any training in improvisation.
Lastly, rehearsal is not a “one-and-done” performance in the theater, as it so often is in sales. Actors are given multiple opportunities to try new things and incorporate feedback. Without this opportunity to apply feedback, sales reps are unlikely to internalize it or try out new behaviors on real customers.
Applying a Rehearsal-Style model to your sales role-play will do more than help your reps learn the right words to say and when to say them. It will allow them to discover how they really react under specific circumstances, what choices are more effective than others, and how to practice those new behaviors in the real world.
Here are 5 elements for Dramatically Better Sales Role-play:
- Set the stage
Choose specific objectives for your role-play. What skill(s) or messaging do you want reps to focus on? Limiting the number of objectives keeps focus sharp and avoids overwhelming the participants. For example, instructions like, “Focus on incorporating our new value proposition into the conversation and making better eye contact,” are manageable goals that set your reps up for success.
- Provide a specific scenario
Good sales reps rarely go into a sales call blind, so why send them into a role-play with little to no backstory? Providing specific circumstances well in advance helps ground reps in the “reality” of the situation, relieving much of the panic associated with role-play.
For example, instead of vague instructions, like “You’re meeting with a doctor,” try, “After five attempts to see Dr. James, a busy internist (mid-40’s) with a large practice, you finally have an appointment. His nurse says he is familiar with our drug but has been prescribing brand X with satisfactory results.”
- Get into role
Just like actors, sales reps need time to “get into role.” Ask them to focus on the specifics of the scene and consider questions like, “When and where is this conversation taking place? What is my relationship with the customer? What do I expect to happen or encounter?” Actors often find it helpful to imagine what took place “the moment before” their scene to jumpstart their role-play.
- Direct it
Fostering a safe environment is critical to getting a more authentic performance out of your sales reps. Take off your manager’s hat and let your reps know that this is a rehearsal, not a judged performance. If reps have done traditional role-play in the past, they will likely be skeptical, so it’s vital that you stick to your word.
At the conclusion of each role-play, ask the rep what they think they did well (in terms of the objectives), followed by what they would do differently.
When it’s your turn, honor your rep’s trust and courage by keeping your feedback focused on the objectives as much as possible also. Avoid labeling things “right and wrong” instead, pointing out more effective choices. If you find there are additional areas to work on outside of the scope of the objectives, plan a follow-up session to focus on those.
- Do a Second take
It’s extremely valuable to give your reps a chance to repeat the role-play, making one or two adjustments based on the feedback received. This is where new behavior starts to go from theory to reality. In the theater, most directors stop a scene mid-rehearsal if the actor keeps doing the same ineffective thing. Employing this “stop and restart” strategy can help to break habitual patterns and allow the rep to get the new behavior in his body.
Dramatically better sales role-play is possible using the proven principles of rehearsal. After your reps gain confidence in the process and begin to recognize the value of effective practice, they’ll be less likely to run for the door, and more likely to shine in front of customers!