Do you know what demographic has the highest divorce rate, the highest turnover of professions, the highest number of fatalities?
Children on the playground!
Our identities and social skills were heavily influenced during these formative years on a playground… Since Direct Selling revolves around relationships and our social skills, let’s continue our exploration of the 10 Direct Selling Playground Lessons and 10 Direct Selling Strategies…
10 Lessons from the School Playground
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #1 Acceptance
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #2 Be Nice
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #3 Play Nice
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #4 Role Play
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #5 Imagination
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #6 Explore
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #7 Bullies
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #8 Friends
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #9 Teachers
- Direct Selling Playground Lesson #10 Rainy Days
In this post, I am going to jump right into Lesson 4….
If you walk onto a play ground you can hear little boys shouting, “I shot you, you’re dead!…” Another part of the play ground you hear a little girl telling the boy next to her, “You’re the daddy, I’m the mommy!..”
On the playground, young children have an incredible ability to adapt to their surroundings.
One reason is simply ‘pretend’ to be someone different!
Kids ‘marry’ one another, they have ‘wars’, they have ‘professions’, they have ‘families’… they are heroes, heroines, and villains all within 30 minutes…
The social culture of a child’s playground is as complex as the world they will engage when they grow up, except there is less fear… because it’s “make believe”.
They engage in suspension of belief…. Oddly, in order, to believe something they are not… yet ,they act in accordance to what they “believe” that role should be and act like… “Bad guys are bad… good guys are good…”.
Children keep it simple, adults complicate…
in grown-up terms… this childhood activity is called role-playing.
Direct Selling Playground Lesson #4: Role-play
and
Direct Selling Strategy #4: Role-Play
Role-Playing is not only today’s Playground Lesson but such a very critical strategy to succeeding in Direct Selling so it is ALSO today’s Direct Selling Strategy!
Why is role-playng SO important?… Because many people who join the Direct Selling industry have little, if any sales experience or training! If you want your business to succeed you need to be in a position to teach basic and advance skills in a manner that give people the confidence, permission and understanding what they are trying to accomplish. AND role-playing puts people in different roles allowing them to see the world from a different perspective and respond in new ways… would you seriously want to be the first patient for a new dentist who only read books and watched some YouTube videos on dentistry? Personally, “No way!!!” Give me someone with proper education and experience!
So why would someone want to become involved in Direct Selling if they don’t have sales experience?
- Direct Selling is initially focused on providing supplemental income, not primary income. You can learn at your own pace without jeapordzing the family budget.
- Selling in direct selling can be more focused on existing relationships, not only cold-calling. Future leads often come from satisfied retail experiences and simply using the product or service publically.
- Personal coaching and mentoring. This wasas attracted to the that was offered. I knew nothing about business or sales, but was willing to learn with someone coaching me.
- Often people interested in joining Direct Sales watched someone they know grow and change as a result of effective Direct Selling training, association and coaching.
Role-playing is an experiential method of learning… Role-playing allows Direct Sellers to gain experience with particular skills, methods or approaches in a non-threatening way that faciliates questions and correction on the spot without embarassment.
Role-playing allows Direct Sellers to gain a deeper understanding of the bigger picture on why certain behaviors or actions are done.
Some great training topics for role-plays are: effective phone skills, basis sales skills, advanced sales skills, lead acquisition skills, closing skills, etc…
There are three different learning modalities: watching (visual), listening (audible) or by doing (kinesthetic).
- Tip: Each learning modality has different strengths and weakness.
- Tip: Each person utilizes the learning modalities differently.
- Tip: Education is Repetition.
- Tip: Repetition leads to habits.
- Tip: Your daily habits determine your successes and failures.
Role Playing engages the greatest number of learning modalities. This form or experiential learning is very effective in adults as they are able to more fully integrate the training into their existing patterns, knowledge-base and experiences.
Role-playing aids the direct seller with their expectation management of newly acquired/revised skills, approaches or understanding which ultimately enhance the direct seller’s comfort level
Role-playing assist direct sellers in analyzing, adapting, and addressing various scenarios… rather than reacting, direct sellers can respond.
Role-playing can be done in one-on-one, small group or break away sessions… allowing better uses of time and resources based on the desired outcome.
In gaining the experiences through role-plays, the direct seller is in a stronger position of building rapport with others through effective audience analysis and implementation of optimal communication and language patterns.
Role-playing in Direct Selling is a powerful strategy to strengthening your team’s confidence, skills, and unity.
Finally, role-playing models, for direct sellers, continuity of mindset, methodology, strategy, team identity, and individual roles. This is crucial in passing the culture from one direct seller to the next thus strengthening the organic nature of the team.
Your Turn Readers…
When is the last time, (outside of tv or movies) you suspended belief? When is the last time you “make believed“?
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