The Olympics and the Athletes: What can we apply to our businesses and sales teams?
A commercial popped up on TV featuring Olympian Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time with 28 Olympic medals, of which 23 are GOLD! Forget about the watch he was wearing-this is about the Olympian who’s first Olympics was in 2000 (at age 15) continuing to Rio Games in 2016. Without a doubt-he’s unbelievable—based on his accomplishments, he “overshadowed” the hundreds of other athletes in RIO.
It’s all about the hundreds of other athletes-who worked selflessly to be in all those Olympics-to compete and perform among the “best of the best.”
So, what can we learn from the Games and the athletes? Like a true champion each of our sales people must be champions! It starts with “sourcing” the best people. It’s about daily training and measuring results; following protocols; rehearsing; knowing how to best contribute to the success of the organization; it’s about doing better each day with the help of coaches & mentors and utilizing technology to give each person and each “performance” an advantage. It’s all about “standing out” and winning on each call, whether it’s just answering a question, taking an order correctly and “upselling” to settling a dispute to creating a great impression.
So, ask yourself: If my sales team were in a head to head completion with another team…how would they fare? Would they win? Have I selected the “best” performers who relentlessly trained and have I coached them for peak performance? Is excellence the goal in every call with a desire and commitment to “give it their best” to satisfy the customer and our company? What about the “management” of the team? Are they dedicated to continuous improvement in a proactive manner by always providing metrics, measurements and to “beat” previous standards and improve performance daily?
The Olympic athletes and teams that compete at the highest levels can teach us a lot! It’s about representing your offering, your brand, your company to the world in the best light with a first-place attitude, performance and customer experience! While there may not be, stadiums filled with people cheering on your sales team, there are still countless prospects and customers engaged each day with your “Champion sales people’ who are expecting a great performance and outcome! Just like the Olympians, it’s about finishing in the medals and victories after putting in the training & hard work: because nobody remembers the people who don’t “medal.”
