I love October. The weather is changing. The nights are cooler. There seems to be a festival or fair every weekend. Baseball’s playoff hunt is in full swing. College and Pro football is reaching a feverish pitch. It’s a beautiful time of the year if you are a sports fan.
One of the many things I enjoy about sports is listening to the radio sports guys discuss the facts, figures, plays, and blown saves from the past weekend. It is so emotionally charged with so much passion for individual teams- it is wonderful discourse to lend an ear to.
One thing I admire is just how stout and resolute professional athletes are. It seems on any given weekend they are either the hero or the goat. They get analyzed, disected, chopped, micro-managed, and second guessed by anyone and everyone- from the coaches to the media down to the fan on the street. But they go about their business so easily, and the truly great stars seem to be able to shrug off a bad outing, or bad play, or bad night with the greatest of ease, only to return the next game and dazzle the masses again. How do they do it? How do they take in so much and yet can perform at such a high level?
Maybe the answer lies in their preparation. Maybe it lies in they fact they know their stregnths and weakneses, know what they are capable of, and consistently strive to perform at their maximum potential. A graet pitcher knows the tendancies, stregnths, and weaknesess of every batter he will face- he knows what pitches he will throw, where he will throw them, and when. A Defense knows exactly what each quaterback, running back, and wide receiver will show them. they are able to practice and prepare a game plan based on statistics, previous expierence, game film, and tendancies. They use the numbers of the game to their advantage.
So why don’t sales people do the same? Why don’t most sales people analyze and prepare prior to making a presentation. Why do they not spend the time up front setting goals for themselves, and then tracking and measuring their progress? Why do most sales people fail to properly plan for the tasks of their career- prospecting, calling on customers, networking, building an online brand, closing, servicing accounts, and the like? If pro sports is built on numbers and statistics, why can’t the sales profession be as well?
Start to think of yourself as a well tuned professional athlete- sales is a bit of a rough and tumble profession anyways- one minute you are the big dog, the next thing you know your competition is trying to crush you and get to the finish line (a sale!) before you do. Are you prepared? Are you looking at what you do? Are you measuring what you do? If you don’t measure it, how can you improve it? How can you know where you stand? Where you are coming from? and more importantly, where you are going!
Take some time and figure out how you can measure your performance? Is is your On-base percentage? How many times you strike out? How many interceptions or pick 6’s you throw? Maybe it’s how many homeruns you hit! Measure it. Analyze it. Change it. Grow it. and maybe one day you will be in the spotlight!
SandPeak Realty 