1.10 (V) Knowledge, Skill, Discipline Framework
For this course, for all of sales, and I would even say, for all of life, there is a very simple and powerful foundation on which we all stand. I call it knowledge, skill, and discipline. Think about it this way, when they build a tall building in any city in the world, the first thing they do is clear the lot. The second thing they do is they dig down into the earth to pour columns or pillars, these pillars rest on the bedrock and they provide the structural integrity of this tall building, so it's solid, so it holds up over time. This is a metaphor of course. You, we are standing on this very powerful foundation of knowledge, skill, and discipline. Our ability to be a high performer is dependent on the balance of these three things. Now, here's where I'm going to start to really challenge you. When you are selling, whether it's selling yourself in an interview or selling your small or large company's products or services, you have too much knowledge. Wait, what? Did I say that too much out loud? Yes, I did. You have too much knowledge. Now, you know what I don't mean, I don't mean get dumber. I wouldn't be teaching this course if I meant that. But what I do mean, is that often as salespeople, we over manifest knowledge. You know this to be true. We talk too much about ourselves, or someone asks about our company and we just talk and talk. Knowledge is not bad of course, until it is. Sometimes, we just need to listen. Well, what's listening? Listening is both a skill and a discipline that we will explore, a lot, in this course, but it's not a knowledge. In sales, we need to be prepared. What's preparation? Preparation is discipline. We need to be great presenters. What's presenting? Presenting is lots of skills put together in a way that makes you magnetic, that's presenting. So as we move through this journey together, I want you to work hard, to separate knowledge from skill and discipline. Knowledge is a wonderful thing of course and I hope to share a lot of that with you here. But what will make you a true high performing salesperson, is how you combine that knowledge with tremendous skill and discipline.