5 Point Roll

The 5 Point Roll !! 

I remember back in my college days, I decided to attempt a parachute jump. This is really funny for those of you who know me because I am not great with heights (actually I’m atrocious with heights.)

There was some logic going on though, as I thought it would cure my fear …. FAIL…it didn’t!!

The first thing they taught us to do was how to land…

” Falling is the easy part” we were told, “it’s the landing that can cause problems!”

We were taught a “5-point roll” and then began a process of practicing that roll nearly 200 times over the next 6 hours before we actually attempted our first jump. Each time we’d practice we had to call out the 5 points of contact in the roll. By the 40th time we were simply landing and rolling without actually “thinking” through each point, it was now a “natural thing to do” Now 30 years later I still know the 5-point roll even though I only ever did that 1 parachute jump!! The whole idea was to get us to be able to land safely and live to tell the tale – to make the process “natural” (like there’ s anything natural to jumping out of a perfectly good airplane).

Life is exactly the same though! There are so many things that we do over and over again that they become natural!!

When we first started driving a car it was a slow, deliberate and sometimes painful process just to get the car moving at a reasonable speed. Now after years of practice we drive, talk to passengers, take note of the surroundings, adjust the radio all without deliberate thought…it’s become a habit (good driving habits only please!)

Every morning on the way to work we stop off and buy a coffee. (How many times have you caught yourself on the weekend heading down the route to work – just cause it’s what you do every day?

Here’s the kicker though…what happens if you’ve been repeatedly doing or practicing the … wrong thing….? …You become skillful at … the wrong thing!! Obviously, we’re not just talking about consciously practicing wrong things – it may just be a habit that one has picked up over the years.

Have you noticed how some people are always late for meetings? You can book those meetings at any time or place – you can send out reminders and alarms and they will still be… late?… it’s become a habit…!!

Now that’s just a little silly and irritating to us Compulsive Punctual clock-watchers, but what about more serious habits?

Have you ever noticed how it’s generally the it’s same people who end up in confrontations and arguments….??

What about people whose relationships always seem to turn sour after a period of time?

What about people who always seem to be short of money?

Is it possible that I’ve picked up and adopted some unhelpful habits that cause me to lose crucial business deals?

Is it possible that failure becomes a habit?

I contend that they are all habits. I also contend however, that all of them can be changed and better habits instituted, resulting in lives of less stress, more success and more achievement!

What about business habits?? And the big S word…..SALES habits.!! Is your sales career based on luck – or do you have a “5-point” roll – a process or a formula that is identifiable, measurable, scalable, reliable, tried and tested, that results in regular high sales AND that keeps you in reach of a massive prospect pool. If your sales formula is your sparkling personality, ability to talk and any product that catches your fantasy – I’d hazard a guess that your “success” is average at best, and that there is an ongoing pattern of “company hopping” as you move from idea to idea or next great product to next great product. Are you a travelling product peddler or are you building a successful, sought out professional sales practice? The choice is yours and, in my opinion it’s all about habits!

So many companies and people call me claiming that they have a “closing problem”. My personal research and experience is that most sales people don’t have a “closing problem” – they have an “opening problem” … there’s no “5 POINT ROLL” – a plan or a series of habits that they regularly do that makes closing easy. In my opinion, successful salespeople have made good habits of all the HARD tasks making the fun tasks of closing easier, more regular, more lucrative and way more predictable.

The 5 point roll was also about protection, safety and survival. There are many stories of people who had problems in their “flight” but because they performed a great 5 point roll they suffered little or no damage.

When your SALES flight picks up some problems….no prospects, no closes therefor no cashflow, limited success … what is your plan? What is your “5 point roll” that you can immediately fall back on that you KNOW will not just help you survive but get you to begin to THRIVE.

It’s time for you to check out my 4 Pillars of Sales program. In it you’ll learn about the importance of having a robust Sales Philosophy as well as filling your tool box with plenty of practical “how to’s” as well!

You can do this !

Go for it!