Source/Contribution by : NJ Publications
Role Playing has been proven as a successful sales conversion strategy globally. Looking at the impact role plays have created, growth witnessed by organizations as a result of sales conversions by being prepared for the unanticipated, role plays are largely penetrated in businesses today, many organizations have incorporated role plays in their sales trainings. Role Plays are also a part of curriculum in colleges, many MBA colleges have role play sessions for their students, preparing them better for the rustic outside world.
The potency of role plays to add value extends to our advisory practice as well. We can augment our sales and expand our business by incorporating Role Playing in our system. The ideology behind role plays bank upon the concept of being prepared for all probabilities.
Role Play is a technique wherein a situation is fictionalized and the participants assume the role of a different person than themselves. So, you can do a role play with your family members or friends or your employees, in which one becomes an investor and another advisor.
How does Role Playing help?
1. Role Playing helps you give a perspective of the client's thought process. Role Playing is based upon the doctrine of substitution. When you assume the role of an investor, you step into the investor's shoes and think from his mind. You understand his needs in a better manner and can predict how he/she would react in a particular situation or to a particular stimulation.
2. Helps you be prepared.Role Plays prepare you for the most unlooked for reactions from investors. Situations aren't left to chance, you are mentally prepared to handle most difficult situations because you have practiced them before. When you face the client, you are more calm, the role playing works like a déja vu, you know what's coming next, and you are equipped with the best possible comeback.
In advisory, client centric approach is the key to business development. But often, we miss to bring out the client element when we talk to the investor. We talk about our product, our services, rather why the investor needs them, what purpose will they solve, how will the investor benefit by investing with us. We are so consumed with our offerings, that we miss to connect them with the investor's needs. Role plays is one of the most effective ways which can help us connect the dots, because of the above two points, you understand the client's perspective and you are prepared.
3. Engaging Process. Role playing apart from being an effective tool to boost sales conversions, is also a very engaging process. There is activity, involvement, it's fun for employees and helps boost their confidence. It helps participants imagine and come up with new ideas. Though role plays are entertaining, yet they must be taken seriously. The role play should be treated as a real customer interaction experience, and not a theoretical speech.
4. Role Plays help identify and work on the weak points.A role play is like a premiere before the real show. It gives you leverage to identify any mistakes that you are likely to commit and avoid them in real time.
To extract the best from a role play, you can do the following:
> Let the sales people play different roles each time, one person should not be playing as the investor always.
> Evaluate the role play. It'll be meaningless if you do not evaluate the role play and give relevant feedback. It could be body language, what went wrong, what went right, how could he/she have done better, etc.
> Let the employees watch each others' performances, and share their observations.
> Do a role play of past failures, prospective clients you could not convert. A role play would allow you to diagnose the loopholes and come up with alternate ways to tackle similar situations in the future.
When multiple minds are at work, you might come across situations which even you haven't encountered before, so it gives you an opportunity to be prepared for the unforeseen. A role play is is a more practical way to learning rather than learning through PPTs or through a teacher student mode. Just like a coach can explain rules of the game to the players, but the player will perform well only if he practices before the real match. Practice familiarizes him with the game, the hiccups that may come, the rules and how to apply the rules in real time, and helps him control his emotions. Similarly, role plays are like practice matches for financial advisors, it gives them a taste of the match before the real match takes place.
Role playing is an overlooked but a very effective strategy for better conversations with investors, you must practice yourself as well as train your employees via role plays to increase sales conversions.
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