Blog
Notes:
One of the most important tasks that sales engineers need to do is practice their trade, and yet this is one of the most overlooked.
But let’s talk about why it’s important. NBA players practice 21 hours a week from October to whenever their season ends. This is not to mention the prep time for each game which is what we talked about early with the game study.
They play around 3.5 games in a week that last around 2.5 hours without overtime. This gives an average of 8.75 hours of game time a week.
That means they practice almost 2.5 times more than they actually play. Most sales engineers perform (demo, discovery, manage pocs) without rarely practicing. Even when they are about to demo, they are usually so busy making sure that everything simply works, and they jump on a call with the customer and perform.
Key Takeaways:
- The practice-to-performance ratio for athletes.
- Stephen Covey’s 4 quadrants and how that relates to practice
- The different types of practice
- How to approach practice and prioritize it
- Learning Technology for Sales Engineers
- Practice should be harder than the game
- Skills to practice
- Roleplay
Quotes:
“Technology does not exist in the ether. It has to have a problem to solve” – Ramzi Marjaba
“If you’re waiting to practice right before the demo, then it might be too late” – Ramzi Marjaba
“If you’re not practiced, then you’re not prepared” – Ramzi Marjaba
