Sales and jazz might seem like an unlikely pairing at first glance. One is a business practice centered around closing deals and generating revenue and often tracked by numbers, numbers and more numbers. Jazz is an expressive and improvisational musical genre judged more by how it makes you feel. Upon closer examination, there are striking similarities between the two.
Both sales and jazz require creativity, adaptability, collaboration and a knack for reading the room. They also require the adherence beneath the current to a relatively strict script or guideline to every sale or tune or riff. Let me show how sales is like jazz, and how embracing the principles of jazz can enhance sales performance.
At the heart of jazz lies improvisation, in which musicians spontaneously create melodies and harmonies on the fly, but based mostly on the underlying chords of the song they are playing. Similarly, successful sales professionals must be able to think on their feet, adapting their approach to meet the ever-changing needs of customers but without bringing too much attention if they need to be following a script or process to move the sales along the path they want it to follow.
If a musician was playing “Amazing Grace,” it would not make sense to the ear to improv with rhythms and notes from “Happy Birthday.” In the same sense, a sales rep has a process to follow for each prospect that is a little different for each situation and that needs to be followed to have the greatest chance of success.
Jazz is inherently collaborative, with musicians listening and responding to one another to create the best harmonies. In sales, collaboration is equally vital. Like jazz musicians, salespeople need to actively listen and harmonize their efforts to maximize their impact. Musicians and prospects share a common trait: they want to be listened to and understood.
Jazz relies heavily on precise timing and rhythm. Musicians must be in sync, understanding when to play a loud dance tune or a slow, tearful ballad. Similarly, sales professionals need to have a keen sense of timing, knowing when to present, when to chit chat, when to make an offer, when to ask for the order or when to back off. The ability to read the rhythm of a sales conversation and respond appropriately can greatly influence the outcome.
Sales and jazz may occupy different domains, but the parallels between the two are striking. Both require improvisation, collaboration, flexibility, emotional intelligence and a strong sense of timing. Both seem like they are being made up on the fly while secretly following guidelines that are rarely revealed.
So, the next time you embark on a sales journey, remember the spirit of jazz and let your creativity, adaptability and collaborative spirit guide you to success — and maybe listen to some Miles Davis on the way to the sales call.
John Sterling is the Amazon bestselling author of “Sales for Noobs“ and CEO of NOOB School, an online resource for new salespeople. Previously, he helped build and sell Datastream for over $200 million. He has trained and hired hundreds of sales reps globally. Subscribe to his YouTube channel for new sales content every week. https://noobschool.org
