When selling a product or service to a client, it is important to be able to go off-script and to be able to improvise during the sales conversation. Often times the prospect may have questions that you were not expecting and not prepared to answer, so you might have to tell them you have to get back to them, or do your best to answer the question off script. Being able to improvise is one of the greatest skills that a salesperson can have, because of the unpredictability of sales calls in the real world. Being able to be flexible and handle when things don’t go as planned is a very good skill to have. Having the ability to be locked in and not to be flustered when a prospect has a question that you came in not necessarily having an answer to is a very beneficial skill to have as someone who is in sales. As someone who is going into sales, learning how to effectively improvise is an important skill that I need to hone in on when talking to clients and prospects, and hearing the guest speakers talk about it made me realize how important the skill of improvising in sales really is. In any work setting, being flexible and being able to effectively improvise is an important skill in being successful after school and graduation. If you throw a fit and break down when things do not go as planned or go off script, you probably will not have much success in the real world, especially in business. So honing in on improvisation and being able to say things off the top of your head in the context of any conversation, especially that of a sales conversation, is pivotal for people trying to be sucessful in sales.
BoweryJE22
This idea of improvisation really became real for me as I was preparing for my Sales Conversation Project. I was trying to prepare for questions asked and realized how unpredictable any given sales conversation. During my sales convo, I was throw some curve balls and had to improvise, but luckily I was not given too many surprises.
Great post, it’s easy to memorize a script, but 9 times out of 10 it’s not going to go as planned. As salesmen, it’s good to know how to improvise!
These are such great reflections on sales; I honestly think they sum up the concept of buoyancy really well. You’ll be able to adapt well to any misunderstandings, miscommunications, or even rejections if you know how to not take any problems personally. A conversation with another person will never go exactly as planned so it’s good to adapt.
Improvising is a seriously underrated skill in my opinion. I think planning is good and all, even required in most scenarios, but the ability to improvise and fly by the seat of your pants is a unique skill that is especially useful when the plan goes off the rails or if you are caught off guard. People should give it a chance and I think it’s something definitely worth consideration in a professional setting.
I think improvisation is a great skill to have, especially when it comes to sales. It will let you keep a conversation going and allow for you to respond quickly to the customers. I enjoyed reading your blog post!
Improvisation is a key skill both for navigating the unpredictability of a sales conversation and assessing pain points and creating solutions. It’s important to be able to offer something the prospect was not expecting or was not offered elsewhere.
Improvising is definitely a useful skill to have. This is definitely something I struggle with as I am not always the best at thinking on my feet and directing a conversation if it doesn’t go the way I thought it would. However, this is something that continues to get easier as you gain more experience I’m sure.