By now you’ve probably seen/heard/read all about the Kanye West interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV-VMA Award show… Even President Barack Obama when asked to comment on the situation called Kanye West a “jackass”!  Regardless of where you weigh in on the situation, there are some great Sales Coaching lessons to be learned from the incident.

Here are the Top 5 Sales Coaching lessons from the incident:

1. See Your Opportunity – How many times during the day, week, month, and so on do you have the opportunity present itself right in front of your eyes, only to do NOTHING?  While Kanye’s actions might be termed “implausible” and without manners, you’ve got to give him credit for seizing the moment when he saw the opportunity present itself.  The sales coaching lesson here is to recognize those opportunities where the opportunity door has opened and for you to move in.
2. Get to the Point – Remember the “good old days” when Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s hit record last week?  There was a game prior to that when Derek Jeter tied the record, and afterward said that he was almost embarrassed to celebrate during the game for two reasons.  First, the New York Yankees were losing the game.  Second, he didn’t want to show the other team up!  Perhaps if Taylor Swift had been as gracious as Derek Jeter and accepted the award with a quick “Thank You” instead of the diarrhea recognition speeches that most award recipients regurgitate Kanye wouldn’t have had the time to jump in.  The sales coaching lesson here is get to the point with your prospects, don’t dilly-dally.
3. Have a Point – I guess if you are to “Get to the Point” as mentioned above, it’s important to know what your point is.  Taylor Swift did have a “cheat sheet” set of notes that she was going to refer to for her acceptance speech.  The sales coaching lesson here is to know what you are going to say when the opportunity door opens itself to you.
4. Bring Passion – Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Kanye West thought that Beyonce should have won the award instead of Taylor Swift?  Even my eight year old exclaimed “Damn… What’s with that guy?” after seeing Kanye’s rant!  The sales coaching lesson here is you’ve got to believe first and foremost in your product/service.  If you don’t, you won’t be able to fake it and your prospects will see it.  They won’t buy from you as a result.  One of our clients loves to say “Love Thy Product” and you should do the same.
5. Don’t Apologize to Oprah – Time for a confession… I love Oprah Winfrey.  I’ve loved Oprah since she was on TV in Nashville way back when and I love her today.  However, I don’t know why Kanye apologized to her and the rest of America before he did so to Taylor Swift.  Sales coaching lesson is to own up to your mistakes to the people they directly effect.  Let’s face it; you’re going to have an issue every now and then delivering your product/service to a customer.  When it happens, and it will, call them up and apologize.  Also set a proactive course for “next time” both for them, and for you!  You’ll go further in your relationships as a result.

So there you have the Pathos Coaching “slant” on the Kanye West versus Taylor Swift saga.

Sam Palazzolo

Pathos Leadership Group