The 21st Century: The Biology Century?

?Many are predicting that the 21st Century is going to be the Biology Century. Disease discovery, disease prevention, bioengineering and it's all happening at a fast rate. The biological sciences are shedding light every day on more and more mysteries. And now the field may be giving a real answer as to how to build world class sales skills.

Yes, that's right, the latest research in the field of neurobiology can help you better understand why some sales folks are better than most. Allow us to explain.

As you may know, every skill and activity is controlled by neurons in your body and literally billions of electrical circuits. Neurons, of course, allow us to learn difficult tasks, whether it is hitting a baseball, singing, or learning how to offer senior products to investors.

Neurons and nerve fibers maintain their signal strength due to their protection from something called myelin. If you think of rubber insulation around a wire, then you are properly thinking of myelin. The purpose of myelin has long been believed to be purely a protective function and keeping the signal strength strong by preventing electrical charges from escaping. Seems pretty simple.

However, it appears as if myelin has a much more important role than one of pure protection. It now turns out that myelin and neurons are directly interacting during the process of skills development. The evidence is that difficult skills development - think chess, not learning how to turn on a light - involves the strengthening and thickening of myelin. And, how might you ask, does myelin thicken? Myelin thickens when the nerve is continuously stimulated! The thicker the myelin gets, the better is serves its insulation function and the faster and more accurately the signals travel! In a nutshell, myelin controls impulse speed and impulse speed is crucial whether you're selling and overcoming objections, running, singing, or hitting a golf ball. Signals have to travel at the right speed and arrive at the right time. And, it now appears as if myelination (the thickening of myelin) is the brain's way of controlling the speed.

So, the question becomes one of how in the world do you myelinate the neuronal networks to improve your sales skills or the sales skills of your organization? First, you have to understand that every skill you have exists as a circuit and circuits have to be formed and optimized. When teaching kids to play tennis at the most successful tennis academy in the world (Spartak), strategy and tactics are not taught. The kids do not play any tournaments for their first two years at the school. They don't even practice initially with tennis balls. They just swing an imaginary racket. This is called building a muscle memory circuit. Of course, by practicing the proper technique, the correct circuits are being built. Constant, technique-focused practice and constant firing of the neuronal pathway in turn thickens the myelin which, as we've learned, further improves neuronal firing! In other words, great coaches all along were right: perfect practice makes perfect!

According to K. Anders Ericsson, the author of The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, every talent is the result of a single process: deliberate practice, which he defines as individuals engaging in a practice activity (typically designed by teachers) with full concentration on improving some aspect of their performance. Additionally, deliberate practice means working on technique, seeking constant critical feedback and focusing ruthlessly on improving weaknesses. Ericsson also believes in the 10 year Rule, which shows that even the most talented individual requires a decade of committed practice before reaching world-class level.

By now, you've figured out where we're going with this discussion of neurobiology and sales skills. It is very important to put yourself or your team through drill and rehearsal sessions. Practice your speech patterns and your presentation skills as much as possible. And, we might add, given the 10 Year Rule, it would be great if the financial services returned to the old model of training young professionals when first stating their careers. For the most part, training has disappeared. One wonders if high agent turnover rates, orphan policyholder problems, and investor litigation could all be connected to the same root problem and lack of training.

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