At the time I am writing this, the NFL team I follow, the New England Patriots, are on their bye week. As a die-hard fan, the bye week can serve as a major bummer. We wait all week to watch our squad take the field on Sunday, and then once a year, the NFL deprives us of that afternoon gift we love so much before we head back to the office the next day. Fortunately for us fans, we have things like fantasy football and NFL Redzone to hold us over. As frustrating as it may be to not have the opportunity to get together with friends and watch the game, the reason and strategy behind the bye week is one few can argue with. The National Football League, and the sport in general, is a true grind. Especially if you are a team and organization like the New England Patriots, whose goals and expectations year in and year out are all about holding that Lombardi Trophy in February. The bye week is designed to allow teams and individuals to recuperate from injury, game plan for the latter part of there season, and spend some much-deserved time with family and friends. The “bye week” is standard in an NFL schedule, but should it be incorporated into our schedule as a sales professional?
Now when I say a bye week, I don’t necessarily mean checking out for an entire week while on the job. Depending on your position and company, most likely you have designated vacation time you can use to spend with your family, which is great. But let’s go back to the strategy behind a bye week in the NFL, why they are important, and how teams can use them to their advantage. I mentioned three different goals of a bye week that I believe all NFL teams tend to focus on. Let’s take a closer look at how they relate to us as sales professionals.
Recuperate From Injury
Every week in the NFL we see things like torn ACL’s, shoulder injuries, and even concussions. Maybe you might develop some minor carpal tunnel syndrome from dialing the phone too many times, but besides that, the physicality of working in sales and working in the NFL really isn’t comparable. But what about on the mental side? I mentioned earlier, the NFL season is a grind, and in all reality, an “off-season” isn’t as long or glamorous as you may think. The day to day, month to month, year over year grind of a sales professional is no different. Whether we are getting denied on the goal line or denied by a prospect, it still hurts. And guess what? Either way, that quota isn’t going away. 4th down is 4th down, and the last day of the month is the last day of the month. Either you convert, or you don’t. Make sure you do what you need to do to stay mentally sharp and mentally strong. In my opinion, the number one reason people leave sales or leave their current situation isn’t because of money, hours, or benefits. It is the simple fact that sales is hard. High pressure, high goals, and lots of rejection can take a physical and mental toll on you. If your schedule allows it, and you have earned enough money to allow it, take a vacation. It doesn’t need to be an exotic trip to the Caribbean either. Sometimes a nice “staycation” is the way to go. Hit the gym, catch up on some of your favorite shows, and try to truly disconnect for a little bit. You will be surprised how good it feels. And if you are a true sales pro, it will make you even more eager to get back to that grind and start right back up.
Game Plan For The Latter Part Of The Season
This is huge, and in my opinion, what separates winners and losers, both in professional football and in business. Unlike the other major sports, football has the longest amount of time between games. Yes, a big part of this is to recover from the physical aspects, but the beauty is it gives you much more time to prepare for your next opponent. Part of that preparation includes learning from the previous week. What worked, what didn’t, and where the best opportunity lies for you to be victorious in the next game. We tend to think of sales as such a day to day grind, which it can be. But sometimes you need to take a step back and really break things down between short-term and long-term goals.
One thing the Patriots and Bill Belichick are notorious for is there ability to make adjustments. This includes in-game, halftime and week to week. You never know what looks you are going to get, or what running back is going to carry the load, and the scary part is that once you get used to it, they will just switch it up again on the next drive. The point is, they make changes based on what the results are, and put themselves in a better position to win. If you find yourself “losing”, as in, not hitting your quotas, not getting the referrals you think you should get or falling short of any goals you set for yourself, then it is time to look at making adjustments. Since 2001, the Patriots have lost their season opener three times. Each time, they went on to win the Super Bowl. Use loss and failure as a motivational tool. Between 2001 and 2017, the Patriots are 38-11 in the week coming off of a loss. Either that is a coincidence, or they understand the value of reflecting on failure, figuring out why it happened, and then making the necessary adjustments to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Going back to the bye week, this is a time where all teams have an opportunity to take some time off the field to take a closer look at what has been happening so far, and how they can make the appropriate adjustments to finish the season strong. That is just as easy for a sales rep or sales manager to do as well. The best part is, we don’t need to take a whole week either. Simply take a look at your daily and weekly numbers, and see what kind of monthly results they are yielding. Not where you want to be? Go back and find out what you need to tweak. Maybe dedicate some time over the weekend, like during the NFL pregame shows, to set yourself up for a successful start to the week.
Spend Some Much-Deserved Time With Family and Friends
This may be the most important one. We all work in sales for different reasons. Some of us are here because we love the idea of an unlimited cap on income, some of us love the flexibility, some of us have a passion for the product or service we sell that burns so deep, we can’t imagine spending our time any other way. With that being said, a lot of us are in sales because we have big goals for ourselves or for our family. Maybe it is to drive a certain car, or take a vacation to a certain place. It is important to make sure our hard efforts are being met with big rewards. Sometimes a vacation with family or a trip with friends is the perfect motivator to keep us working so hard. If you get it once, you will want to do it again. Whether it is an annual trip to Disney with your family, or a backpacking trip in Europe with your college friends. I think setting a goal like a vacation is the perfect goal. It can work in two ways. For one, it is an opportunity to disconnect from work and enjoy a special moment with the people you work so hard for on a daily basis. Second, let that serve as your motivation going forward. A lot of sales professionals tend to take their vacations towards the end of the year, the so-called slow season in sales. Make sure when you start the year and set your new goals, that that trip is there towards the top of the list. Now that you know how great it is, and the memories that are made, it will drive you to work towards it.
It is no different than when NFL teams watch film and old games as motivation. For example, is there anything more motivating than watching you and your team win the Superbowl and celebrate? That is what has driven guys like Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to put in the work to make sure they have that opportunity each and every year. Make sure you not only take the time to enjoy the results of your hard work but let those rewards motivate you to make sure you can keep enjoying them year after year. Once you start incorporating some of these best practices into your businesses, you may start to realize that bye-weeks in the NFL don’t have to be so bad. Okay, I am not that good of a salesman, bye weeks in the NFL are still brutal. Thank goodness we have fantasy football!
