Several years ago, the coach of the Louisiana State University track team, Boots Garland, conducted a running clinic for some members of my youth baseball team. Coach Garland demonstrated how to increase running skills and quickness. He showed the players the small, detailed things that would improve their performance. Things like hand placement, arm movement, and foot positioning. Some of the kids were surprised that these techniques were so trivial.

One of the players was having a difficult time understanding how these small running techniques were going to help him become faster. So, he asked a question. “Coach, do you really think this will help improve my speed?”

Coach Garland hesitated for a moment then responded with a question of his own. He answered, “I don’t know. How much faster do wanna be?”

Well, the young man couldn’t answer. He just wanted to be faster. But he didn’t know how much faster. And he didn’t know if these small techniques would lead to big results.

These same questions can be asked of sales professionals. How much better do you want to be? What small sales activities can you perform that will produce big results? What placement and positioning will allow you to be more successful?

Do these small activities include listening to one of Zig Ziglar’s latest CD recordings? Or plugging in a Zig Ziglar tape? Or re-reading Secrets of Closing the Sale? Or enrolling in our Today’s Selling Strategies workshop?

Obviously, those questions can only be answered by you. But then again, how much better do you want to be?

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© 2008 Bryan Flanagan, Ziglar Training Systems
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