FROM THE PRESIDENT – Greg Adamson
Consider these drills to prepare for the season(s) ahead
March signals a time for a new beginning, as most of us begin to experience signs of new growth. Trees are budding, lawns are getting their first mow in months and gardens are being prepared for the upcoming season.
One of my favorite traditions is Major League Baseball spring training, conducted annually in Florida and Arizona. It signals that the baseball season is upon us and winter is ending soon (except where I live, in Boston). There is something special about watching multimillion-dollar athletes field ground balls, practice cut-off throws to second and third bases, and even home-run hitters refamiliarize themselves with the art of bunting.
Most of us who work in life sciences sales training are completing or nearing completion of our national sales meetings. The agenda tug-of-war that occurs each cycle for sales, marketing and sales training time in front of our sales force is both complex and exhausting; no one feels they received enough. The one common denominator we all have is that we are passionate about preparing our people to succeed.
But what about us? Our skills? Our competencies? Our responsibility to our companies?
That is one place we should not be experiencing a tug-of-war. We get to control the outcome.
Which brings me back to spring training. Those baseball players are practicing the most rudimentary of skills – maybe it’s a good idea for us to do the same.
Consider the following “drills” for your spring training:
- Online presentation skills. In 2020 it was acceptable to say, “I’m not very good at this IT stuff” as we may have fumbled through a Teams or Zoom presentation. In 2024, that doesn’t fly. If you don’t know how to send people into breakout groups or develop and launch a poll, now is a great time to learn those skills.
- Live classroom presentation skills. Have a filler word you can’t shake? Ever say, “Their brains are fried. They can’t absorb anymore”? I assure you the minute they leave the class, they are on their phones and will sit and watch Netflix in their hotel room. People are not sponges that can only absorb so much.
Make the 2024 spring training a time for you to partner with someone in your department. It’s like playing catch in baseball, except here you can challenge each other to become better at particular skills, such as storytelling, stitching, eliminating filler words or becoming more interesting after lunch! - Rewrite your tests. Make sure questions 12, 28 and 35 don’t always require someone to raise their hand and say they are confused. Consider rewriting the question or eliminating it altogether if it’s causing confusion.
- Red team your agenda. Give your agenda to a department peer and ask them to find the gaps and look at the agenda from a different angle.
- Join us at the 2024 LTEN Annual Conference. We’ll be in Kissimmee, Fla., from June 10 to 13 this year. Spring training will be complete, but what a wonderful opportunity to see what other sales training professionals are doing at their companies.
Spring training – like spring cleaning – is always a good idea. It’s a chance to refresh, recharge and regain momentum and make sure we’re ready for the seasons ahead.
Wherever you are in your spring training journey, I wish you the best and look forward to seeing you at LTEN2024.
Greg Adamson is president of the LTEN Board of Directors and executive director, sales training, for Olympus Americas. You can reach out to Greg via email at greg.adamson@olympus.com or through www.linkedin.com/in/greg-adamson-9b85ba7/.
