Is Unconsciously Competent Good Enough?

If you’ve never been exposed to the stages of competence, they are unconsciously incompetent (not aware you’re not good at something), consciously incompetent (aware you’re not good at something), consciously competent (good at something but have to think about how to do it right), & unconsciously competent (good at something without having to think about how to do it). Some call this last stage “muscle memory”.

With some tasks, typically those that don’t lead to sales results but you’re required to do them, being consciously competent is “good enough”. Examples are updating your CRM system or filling out expense reports. You could even make the case that being consciously incompetent at these won’t stand in the way of a successful sales career. (I’ve known many who fit this bill!)

The reason we want to be unconsciously competent at skills that lead to sales results is because thinking is fatiguing. We need some things to run on autopilot to get thru a full day.

But it’s very tempting to settle for unconscious competence with all sales skills. We think "we’ve arrived". We’re already good at this, so we don’t practice anymore. And, we don’t open our minds to new ways of doing things. We don’t try to take our competence to another level – mastery.

Competence is being a good listener. Mastery is being a great listener. Good listeners hear what’s said & great listeners hear what’s missing and probe it.

Competence is being a good presenter. Mastery is being a great presenter. Good presenters sound good, look good, and say the right things. Great presenters grab total control of the room and move the audience where the presenter wants them to go.

Mastery requires going back into learning mode.

You don’t need to master every sales skill to succeed in today’s environment. But you do need to master one or two and be unconsciously competent in almost all the rest. That’s the best way to guarantee hitting your numbers year after year.

Which one or two skills should you master? Choose from the ones that have the highest leverage for you in your market. And out of those, pick the one you most want to master. Pick the one you think you’ll stick with while you’re acquiring more knowledge and practicing.  

Don’t settle for unconscious competence. Become a master.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

P.S. I’m always happy to hear what topics you’d be most interested in reading about in this newsletter. List as many as you’d like & send me an email: [email protected]. Thanks.