The Problem with Sales Best Practices: Why Principles Beat Tactics Every Time

The fastest way to become an average salesperson is to copy great salespeople.

That probably sounds backwards.

After all, isn't that how we learn?

Only partly.

What most people copy are the tactics.

They copy the cold call opening.
The email structure.
The discovery questions.
The AI prompt.

What they don't copy are the principles that made those tactics effective.

That's why two reps can use the exact same cold call opening and get completely different results.

The opening wasn't the magic.

The principles behind it were.

Respect the prospect.

Create relevance.

Earn attention.

Lower resistance.

Those principles can be expressed through dozens of different openings.

The same is true for discovery, demos, negotiation, email, even leadership.

That's why I get nervous whenever someone says they've found the "best practice."

A best practice without understanding the principle behind it is just imitation.

Instead of asking,

"What's the best practice?"

Ask,

"What principle made that practice work in the first place?"

Once you understand the principle, you can apply appropriately.