Scrabble is a board game where players make words from a selection of random letters. Each player builds a new word using a letter or letters off of one previously played. Every letter has a point value and certain spots on the board have point multipliers. A player’s score is figured by adding the total points of the new word to their running total. When all the letter tiles are played, the game ends with the first player to use all their letters. Lois and I enjoy a game several evenings a week.
Selling Is A Lot Like The Game Of Scrabble
Scrabble Starts With 7 Random Letters
At the beginning of a Scrabble game all the letter tiles are placed face down. Each player chooses 7 letter tiles at random to begin then as they use tiles they choose more to keep 7 letters to play with.
This is like prospecting. Great salespeople begin the sales process by choosing prospects fitting a particular profile. Usually only limited information is known about each prospect. As sales are made and deals are closed new prospects are added to the sales funnel. Great salespeople know how many prospects to have in the queue at all times.
Each New Word Builds Off An Existing Word
New words are made using one or more letters in previously played words. Scrabble players look over the words on the board and see how to use their unplayed tiles to make new words. When searching for the best move, players consider the point value of the letters and the multiplier squares on the board to score the most points on each play.
Great salespeople make the best use of their selling time. They qualify prospects to determine whether there is an opportunity to make a sale. Those prospects which have power to buy, a need the salesperson can meet, understand the value proposition the salesperson brings and has an urgency to decide are the ones great salespeople focus on.
Scrabble Board Is Covered In All Sorts Of Words
Given the random nature of letter tile selection creative Scrabble players use a variety of word lengths. When holding a hand of all or mostly consonants the player looks to form words with existing vowels. And the reverse is true, too. Expert players have vocabularies of both long and short words. When play nears the end of the game, players have few tiles in hand. The winner is usually the one who can form a two or three letter word.
Great salespeople know the value of both large and small sales. When pursuing a new client, they begin the relationship with a small sale benefitting the client and confirming the value proposition. This first sale then begins a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. Ultimately resulting in larger and larger sales.
Rarely Used Letters Have Higher Point Values
Each Scrabble letter tile has a point value. The letters most difficult to use in forming words from random letters have the highest value. Q and Z being high scoring letters. Land one of these on a “triple word score” or “double letter score” square and it can rocket a player into first place.
Likewise some problems customer’s have are difficult to solve. Great salespeople know the capabilities of their company and position themselves as unique problem solvers. When I sold for a metal fabricator, the company was known to be able to deliver complex products on time. Like when a customer needed a new curved stair installed between the 14th and 15th floors of an existing, occupied office building. The engineers and craftsmen designed the stair to be mostly fabricated in the shop and then “flown” through a 14th floor window to be put in place. Great salespeople look for high value opportunities using their value proposition to set them apart from competitors.
In Friendly Games We Get Help
When Lois and I play Scrabble we use reference sources. There are dictionaries specifically made for Scrabble play. We check for the correct spelling of a word and look for words to play. The better Scrabble dictionaries have lists of words beginning with specific letter combinations. Having the reference sources makes the game more fun and we learn new words and their meaning.
Great salespeople also know the value of getting help. They realize the best source of new business is referrals from current customers. A valuable selling skill is knowing when and how to ask for an introduction to a like-minded colleague of your good customer.
What You Can Do Right Now
- Check your sales funnel. Are you prospecting effectively to keep the deals flowing?
- How are your qualifying skills? Do you use a variety of questions to determine the quality of a prospect?
- Do you focus solely on the “big deal” and ignore other good opportunities?
- What is your value proposition? Do you have good stories to tell illustrating how you can solve problems for your prospects?
- Are you asking for referrals? How comfortable are you asking for introductions to new opportunities?
To learn more sales secrets see Chapter Eight, The Six-Step Sales Process, in Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling. For even more sales help, join our FREE Sales Club! “See” you next week.
Good selling!
Don Crawford & Lois Carter Crawford