In the world of skill acquisition, particularly in athletics, we learn new abilities through what Stephen Scott calls the “Three B’s” – Brain, Biomechanics and Behaviors.
When most athletes are practicing, they talk about “reps”, or repetitions. The idea is, if you can practice something often and “get the reps in”, you can improve. However, research has shown that this is not the case. Doing something over and over does indeed lead to consistent behavior – but if the incorrect mechanics are practiced – you can learn bad mechanics and actually get worse.
Stephen Scott advocates for the three B’s instead of mindless repetition. With the three B’s, the goal is to recreate game-day situations and fully engage your brain to practice.
The Brain, the first of the B’s, must think through each repetition and analyze what the goal of it is. Biomechanics, the second of the B’s, refers to actually performing the motion or task. And Behavior, the third of the B’s, analyzes the result of the performed motion or task. Taken together, the Three B’s present a much more deliberate way of practicing – and a much more engaging session.
When thinking about sales, how often do we get locked into the same behavior? Salespeople can wonder why accounts aren’t closing. Or why prospects don’t call them back. Or why a competitor comes in at the last moment to snatch a sale.
Often, upon reflection, there is a clear cause of the lost sale. There might be a missed discovery question or an opportunity to build rapport was skipped. Salespeople need to practice and improve their sales skills if they want to improve their numbers. The Three B’s provide an excellent format and framework to accomplish this improvement.
