Here’s a question. How does one get better? How does one improve at something? (Okay, that’s two questions.)
Here’s how you don’t improve. Keep doing the same thing.
You certainly can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expect to get better. Somehow or another, you have to do something different. You have to experiment.
ex·per·i·ment – noun – /ikˈsperəmənt/: a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.
The idea behind doing an experiment is that there’s something rigorous and structured about the effort. You’re not going about it haphazardly. It’s a scientific procedure, designed logically and executed in a thoughtful manner.
If you want to get better at sales, consider making experiments part of your ongoing sales development plan.
There are lots of reasons to do this. We’ve already established that improvement doesn’t happen from doing the same things over and over again. And you’re probably not as good as you could be. (I’m definitely not…) So there’s that.
Plus, there’s the opportunity to learn new things, which is exactly what experiments are designed to do. And we can all use a little more learning.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, experiments make everything more interesting. And fun. Who doesn’t like a surprise once in a while, and you can’t have surprises without doing something different.
Daniel Vassallo’s version of this is ‘placing lots of small bets.’ That’s certainly what experiments are, particularly as Daniel describes them. His approach to small bets is particularly logical and rigorous.
In a different way, Martin Stellar recommends experiments when it comes to your email strategy.
His sound advice advises experimenting with your outbound emails. He even suggests that you refer to them as experiments with your audience. It’s a solid, honest strategy, and one that actually enhances goodwill.
Yes, there will be mistakes. You may need to backtrack and even correct a few things. But that’s how you get better. I’m reminded of a presentation by legendary venture capitalist Vinod Khosla talked about his mistakes. He attributes his success to the sheer volume of mistakes, and those mistakes inevitably correlate to a vast number of experiments.
You can apply this concept of experiments to every aspect of sales. For example, what experiment might you conduct to make your sales process better and more interesting. Or what step might you take away to make it shorter and more efficient? Can you run that experiment over a short period of time, observe it, and then measure the impact?
Are there email templates that could be more interesting? Can you A/B test them? Or have a copywriter review them to see if a different perspective or voice might be worth trying.
Think of adopting an experimental mindset to your sales craft, a complement to having a growth mindset. Because the only way to grow is to do something different.
What should you test?