--- title: How to Make Every Sales Performance a Sales Practice | The Sales Blog description: A professional sports team spends the majority of their time practicing, honing both their individual skills and their ability to play well as a team. They spend very little time actually playing. A great musical act or theater production looks effortless only because you didn’t see the countless hours that went into practice and rehearsal. […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screen-shot-2011-06-17-at-9_13_06-PM.png --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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They spend very little time actually playing. A great musical act or theater production looks effortless only because you didn’t see the countless hours that went into practice and rehearsal. They rehearse for far more hours than they perform. The military spends far more time training than they ever do running military operations; the stakes are too high to do anything less. They train even during engagements. In sales, we spend almost all of [our time performing](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/every-sales-call-is-a-performance-or-it-could-be) and very, very little time practicing, [rehearsing](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/dress-rehearsal-for-sales-calls), and training. We don’t have the time or resources to practice as much as we would wish. Instead, we have to [ensure that our performances also accomplish the learning](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/you-are-being-trained-to-sell-every-day-or-you-could-be) that comes from practice. Here’s how to turn every performance into practice so you can hone and improve your skills from sales interaction to sales interaction. #### Review Your Own Game Films Every football play is designed to achieve a certain outcome. A football team also gets to practice running the plays until they master them (even then they don’t always work during a contest). They also get watch the game film to understand the mistakes they made and how they might improve. Sales interactions also have [predetermined outcomes](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/to-ensure-you-obtain-the-outcome-you-need-plan-your-sales-call). If you know the intended outcome, you can very easily determine whether or not it was achieved. But we don’t have game films that we can review to see our mistakes. Make every performance a chance to practice and to learn with [an eye towards improving](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/the-case-for-personal-development-you-are-your-only-asset-2). You may not be able to train every day, but you can make every interaction an opportunity to improve. **Questions** How much time do you spend training, practicing, and rehearsing? What do you do to regularly improve your performance? Do you always take advantage of the [learning opportunities](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/the-development-edge) that you can gain from your day-to-day sales efforts? How much have you improved over the last 6 months? The last 12 months? Is this visible in your sales results? How can you derive lessons from every sales interaction? ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2011](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2011) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on June 17, 2011 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com) [Follow me on my website](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) [Follow me on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/thesalesblog) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/) [Follow me on Twitter ](http://www.twitter.com/iannarino) [![AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg?width=318&height=179&name=ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/free-cold-calling-video) ![salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover (1)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg?width=768&height=994&name=salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg) ### Free Sales eBook: Sales Call Planner Planning your sales call improves the likelihood of making a successful call, and it demonstrates to your dream client your professionalism. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2024-09-05T4:28:30 AM", "datePublished" : "2011-06-17 21:33:36", "description" : "A professional sports team spends the majority of their time practicing, honing both their individual skills and their ability to play well as a team. They spend very little time actually playing. 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