Sales Managers Mastermind: Micro-Learning

Why managers avoid role play

I know what you're thinking already. Just the words "role play" — you probably didn't want to watch this video. Most managers, if they made a list of their favorite things to do in an average work week, role play isn't even on it. And if it is, it's last. That's very common. Most people don't like role playing. Managers usually don't, and salespeople don't either. Overall, sales managers avoid it because it's not super comfortable, or because it's a time commitment.

But we're now at a place with technology — with things like ChatGPT and programs like Ulee — where salespeople can practice with AI multiple times and really build muscle memory with less of your time involved. You can structure it so they do the first five, six, seven rounds with AI, and the final rounds with you if you want to observe. Or they do the role play in a platform that records it, and you can watch a summary. They can even be graded on their role play — if you're using certain programs, it will grade them on Sandler methodology: the upfront contract, pain, bonding and rapport.

For years we've known the importance of role play, because role play is practice, and practice before a game is a generally accepted principle. It's like the laws of physics. I've never had anyone argue with whether it's important to practice something before you actually do it. Of course it is. But most people don't make the time to role play effectively, because role-playing once doesn't have the same effect as multiple repetitions.

Creating a safe environment

As I've coached managers for years, one of the things I hear regularly about role play is the time element — "I don't have the time for it." And I get it. There are a lot of meetings, a lot of priorities. But think about how important it is to grow your people, because that's one of your main roles as a manager. What better way to grow people than to actually practice the skills, techniques, and strategies that help them succeed? Imagine coaching a sport where you never practiced with your players. It'd be crazy.

One of the challenges is that if you'd like to role play with a salesperson, that's often the last thing they want to do. They'll either tell you directly — "I don't want to" — or they'll say things like, "I'd love to role play, but I have an important meeting today," or "The call's tomorrow so I don't really have time." When people say they don't have time for something, they're almost always saying they don't want to do it. So one of the key things is getting your people to see the value and the importance of role play.

Role play needs to be a safe environment. Write this down: it's okay to fail. Don't create a gotcha management style where it's, "Oh, you did this wrong, you did this wrong." It's okay for them not to get it right. This is the place we mess it up a bit so that in the actual meeting, we have a lesser likelihood of messing things up. When you're role playing, it's really key to create that safety — "No big deal, let's do it again, let's take another shot at it."

How to structure a role play session

Here's something that makes you a bit more vulnerable as a manager, but it works. Let's say you're sitting down to role play an upfront contract for a big meeting coming up in your pre-call strategy. My recommendation is that you go first. Instead of saying, "Salesperson, let me hear your upfront contract," you say, "Hey, I'll go first — I'll do the upfront contract, you observe." Then the manager goes first. That creates a safe environment. Am I going to be perfect? Nope. And I tell them upfront: "I'll take a shot at it, I'll probably mess it up." But that vulnerability helps them accept the role play at a different level and provides a comfort they wouldn't otherwise have.

So here's the structure. Step one: I go first. Step two: I ask, "What did you hear? What do you think?" We debrief. Step three: I ask the salesperson, "Should I go again?" A lot of times they say, "Yeah, go again." Then once we debrief that, it's the salesperson's turn, and we debrief that. It's manager goes first, then salesperson, and we keep going back and forth — multiple role plays until we're comfortable. Through that process, we can also identify what improvements are needed, not just for this scenario, but overall.

Deliberate practice and the role of AI

Instead of role-playing an entire sales call, role play parts of it. For example, let's practice the upfront contract multiple times and get very deliberate about that one part of the meeting. Or, if there are four objections we can pretty much plan on hearing, let's just practice those four and how we're going to respond. Much of this comes from the research of Anders Ericsson, who was the godfather of the 10,000-hour rule. He established the principle of deliberate practice — when he studied professional golfers, he found they don't practice an entire 18-hole round. They break their game apart and deliberately practice specific parts of it.

Tiger Woods was known for this. He didn't just throw a bunch of balls into a sand trap and hit them out. He would bury balls in the trap and practice that one shot he might only see once or twice a year. He very deliberately practiced that one part of his game because he knew how critical it was. When it comes to role-playing a sales call, it's not the entire call — breaking it into more manageable pieces is what builds the skillset.

Using AI to amplify role play is really key. The technology allows you to not only record yourself, but to get AI feedback, be graded, and have a very patient role-play partner available to your team at any time. Because salespeople typically feel some reluctance to role play with their sales manager — even when you keep things safe, there's still an awkwardness to role-playing with your boss — we've found that when salespeople role play with AI, it's less stressful. They're not being judged by a real person, and it removes the pressure so they can actually lean into the practice rather than second-guessing themselves.

So much of this comes down to muscle memory. It's ongoing repetition that makes a skill truly stick. If our key role is to grow our salespeople and coach them, what better way to build their muscle memory than through practice? So when they're in the game, they're at their best.