With awe-inspiring performances and unbreakable spirit, athletes are spectacular sellers. Pitchman Michael Jordan sold millions of gym shoes and briefs for Nike and Hanes. Blake Griffin made KIAs cool. Olympian Michael Phelps made Subway meals seem like nectar of the gods. The classic Converses hawked by Larry Bird and Magic? They are still in high demand as collector items on eBay.
What is it about athletes that make customers want to buy at any cost? And how can sales managers harness that power to create a team of “sales athletes” who can win prospects over with similar impact? Here are eight principles that sports stars use that salespeople can adopt to be more effective.
1. Big League Skill
Buyers trust competence and excellence. They can always spot someone who has done the training and preparation to be tops in their field, whether it’s an athlete or a seller. Part of being excellent is the willingness to train hard.
Sales athletes don’t just train four times a year at the direction of a manager like most salespeople. They view training as a regular and ongoing process. They have a regimen in place. Just like the player will get up at 6 a.m. to practice, top sellers have the discipline to increase product knowledge, study the industry, research their prospects, rehearse presentations and network to develop their territory on a weekly basis.
2. Confidence.
It takes a pretty HUGE ego to play to an arena crowd. Every move is judged. When a strategy fails, it’s under bright lights and the athlete has to get over it and have the self-assuredness to ace the next play.
Sales athletes have to operate with that level of unwavering belief that they can succeed against any obstacle and that they can overcome any failure or sales slump.
3. Charisma
Not every great athlete is remembered. Those that do have a certain loveable charm. People like them. Sometimes, they want to be them. Even Gatorade traded on the notion that everyone wanted to “be like Mike.”
Superstar sales athletes often have that same level of charisma that draws buyers in. Buyers let their guard down and want to listen. They feel at ease – as if they are talking to a brother or friend. They are open to the seller’s recommendations because they don’t feel manipulated and like the seller is just performing a shtick.
Another aspect of magnetism is that the seller is entertaining. His presentation is not “blah” and full of predictable buzzwords, but dynamic and engaging.
4. Competitive
The marketplace is crowded. Top sales teams are do-or-die competitors, just like athletes who fight for every win.
To become top performers, sales athletes have to be willing to study the competition and be better than they are in every way. In other words, they have to want to kick a little ass.
5. Open To Coaching and Improvement.
Even great players are willing to receive correction and advice from coaches. They are willing to look at game tapes and see what went wrong so they can do better and improve their best stats.
Sellers and sales managers must be able to fashion a coach-player relationship in order to study technique and keep progressing. They must come up with a game plan for improvement and be willing to share their techniques with the rest of the team — lone wolves don’t make the cut for long.
6. Perform Well In The Clutch.
Scrubs drop the ball when the pressure is on, but star athletes have too much pride to do that.
Sales athletes must be able to withstand pressure to make the big plays. That means when there’s a lucrative deal that the business can’t afford let slip away, the seller will win over the prospect, find solutions for all the objections to eventually get the contract with the persistence of a pitbull.
7. Go For The Big Trophies – The Championships.
Sales athletes go after the major business-to-business clients with an eye on volume deals – even if it means stealing them from a competitor. They get great pleasure from doing the impossible.
8. Overcome Burnout
After years, athletes can face burnout if they don’t cross-train and develop new skills. When sellers face burnout, the great ones will develop a new customer base or territory, sell a different product or experiment with a new style of presentation.
A sales team won’t hear their names chanted in a stadium. They won’t be famous or given red carpets. However, they can have the guts and glory in their own sales territory. By following these eight athletic principles, they can drive demand and trends while influencing any customer.
Leave a Reply