Can the Right Music Motivate and Improve Sales Performance?

May 22, 2012
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

music One of the many changes to affect selling during the last several years is that salespeople are making fewer face-to-face sales calls than ever before and more of the selling has moved to the phone. This has resulted in more calls (although shorter), more resistance with a longer sales cycle, and greater success in closing sales, deals and accounts which might not have been possible just a few years ago. The biggest difference though? It might just be the music.

Back in the good old days, many of us played music on the way to sales calls while some listened to sports, news, or talk shows. I’m focusing on music today, so I’ll we’ll discuss how music could serve to:

Motivate
Calm
Stop the Thinking
Improve Focus and Resolve
Boost Adrenaline

While some might play classical, easy listening or new age music to calm their nerves, others play genres that could motivate them for upcoming calls. In much the same way as a pitcher or hitter has a personal music clip played to get their adrenaline pumping as they enter a baseball game, music can have a similar effect on the psyche of a salesperson.

If a salesperson has a one-hour ride to the next sales call, it would require about 10 tunes to fill that time. I invite you to join today’s conversation by sharing your pre-sales call playlist (or the tunes you would include if you had one). I’ve shared mine and encourage you to contribute yours. It will be very interesting, perhaps even exciting, to see all the variations (or not) in the styles of music and specific songs that everyone prefers prior to a sales call. There is no right or wrong, just personal preferences.

Here are my 10 (Frank, you’ll notice that the band Chicago does not appear in my Top 10 Pre-Sales Call Playlist):