role playing

As I wrote in September, I’m reading the Bible from beginning to end for the first time.  In my first article using an analogy from the Bible, I wrote about scaling, hiring and firing salespeople, based on what I read in Genesis.  Today’s article is about on boarding and coaching salespeople, and is an analogy from Exodus.

Early in Exodus, we are introduced to Moses, whose people have been slaves to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for hundreds of years.  God appears to Moses and commands him to approach Pharaoh and persuade him to release the Israelites so they can freely worship their God.  Moses lacks confidence in his ability to articulate the request, and questions God’s direction.  He wonders if there might be someone better to handle this important assignment.

God had to build Moses’ confidence, and properly prepare him for the conversation he will have with Pharaoh.  This is the equivalent to pre-call strategizing, one of several methods for coaching salespeople.  God needed to provide Moses with talking points sufficient to give him gravitas with Pharaoh, so he provided Moses the God-like ability to turn his brother Aaron’s staff into a snake. We accomplish the same thing when we prepare a salesperson with powerful messaging and talking points.