I keep finding that through sports, athletes have developed strange relationships with psychological interactions that lean more towards the abstract than the common person. My mom always used to tell me that one day you would fall in love with your counter person, not because of what makes them beautiful, but what makes them different.
The problem we face as humans?
Who is excited to be different? Who would like to have all their weird things constantly pointed out to them?
Maybe you’ve already embraced your weird, but things are about to get weirder!
Let’s go for a deep dive to remember just who we are.
For some reason, you fell deeply in love with a competitive sport. Over the course of time, you constantly chose the competitive sport over friends, relationships, activities, jobs, weekends, and maybe even grades.
On top of that, your brain has adapted. You’re thinking about practice, that assignment that you need to finish, the upcoming test, and of course that cutie you saw in the hallway. How am I supposed to concentrate?
Then you step into your element. Game Time!
Somehow… you are completely present.
“The zone” is one of the most fabled places in sports. You went from scatter-brained to flipping a switch and reaching a point of being so present and focused that time seems to slow down. You can predict reactions and movements before actually performing them. You pull abilities from the greats that under other conditions you would have difficulty performing.
And it took you 16+ years to develop this and refine it into the masterpiece it is today. You are your own version of the Sistine Chapel. Your greatest feat to date.
Only problem…
No one will appreciate this piece of art as much as you. Most people won’t even understand what it is. How then can you use this piece to your benefit?
The first thing is that you need to be able to understand the art piece better yourself in order to communicate what it is everyone is looking at. Once you begin to understand you’re weird, you can use it to your advantage.
Unbeknownst to you… you currently carry with you the most powerful weapon in sales. You once carried this weapon with you daily but now it seems to be collecting dust. You haven’t been able to crank your mind into the superhuman muscle it was when you played sports.
First, let me explain why you haven’t been able to tap into your athletic experience as much as you probably can, and I guess… why you should.
In a book called, “Good to Great” they discuss this idea that in order to be considered “great” there needs to be a consistency of excellence. I would argue that in order to get to a college athletic level there is a formula for “greatness”. That you had to make ridiculous sacrifices and show up repeatedly at a high level to be able to compete at the level you did. Now, I’m on this crazy journey of reverse engineering how I was able to be great at one thing in order to be great at another. I would suggest you do the same. Why would you start over at 0? That my friends is not a recipe for success. Imagine if you taught yourself how to play your sport and then you tried to one day play against everyone, you would lose miserably! Silly, right?
So, when I think of sales, there are some things that beautifully align with sports. There are many, but I want to talk about a few of my favorites for salespeople just getting started and maybe salespeople who feel like they are in a rut. Heck, it’s even a good reminder if you’re crushing it. If you forget why the car is moving forward how do you keep it straight?
As an athlete, you took a lot of pride in your abilities in your sport. Some of them genetic, some of them practiced skills. But you kept track of every inch higher you could jump, every second faster you could run, every move you could replicate like the pros.
From all the hours spent developing yourself in your sport, athletes have a high level of ownership in their contributions.
When a pass goes out of bounds? My bad. When you’re down at half? I can do better. When you miss the game winner? My fault.
After a missed game winner, you never hear someone say the opponent just played amazing defense. The crowd was really noisy, so I missed. I couldn’t see clearly because I was a little dehydrated.
When you own something, you value it more than something that you don’t own.
Nothing revolutionary here.
When you go to sell something that you’ve owned for a while, you need to deal with the emotion of what it means to you. The buyer has no idea the memories you associate with the item. This is why at garage sales items tend to be overpriced and can be negotiated. (And maybe why some items never even make it to the lawn?)
What if this type of ownership was applied to you as a person? You took this type of ownership in your performance and abilities to point that you had developed so many memories of you being a high performer you EXPECT to get to that level again.
So as a salesperson, it is now my job to convince you, the buyer, that the product you are looking to purchase is in fact worth what I believe I’m selling it for.
When this comes to you as a person, how then can you translate your abilities you’ve obtained from sports into a package that holds its beauty regardless of the eyes looking at it.
You see, when you begin to hold a position of ownership, in yourself and in your business, you sit in a position of control and power.
When you begin to blame your surroundings for your outcomes, you come from a place of scarcity and little to no control.
But as I mentioned earlier… You’ve always sat in this seat of ownership! How can this then be applied to being an elite salesperson?
I remember feeling sorry for myself for not being able to close deals. For not getting the referrals I thought I should be getting. For not having people stick with my offer.
I had to shift my mind back to taking ownership in sales. I had to ask why to all those questions.
Why am I not closing these deals? How can I improve? What am I not doing that other people are?
When you own it, it begins to become a science rather than chance. Your awareness level heightens as you listen deeper to your buyer and you begin to be able to ask the right questions to get to the root of the purchase.
This is where you are also most comfortable from your sports background. When you stop owning, you will feel helpless.
The reason most salespeople aren’t able to handle this type of mindset is that they struggle with loss aversion.
It would be better to not hear no 5 times than to hear yes once!
This is why people are afraid of cold calling, networking, stepping outside of their comfort zone in order to improve their business.
I would make the argument that you have a different relationship with loss.
There are two things that you as an athlete have dealt with that offer you a superior outlook on this loss aversion.
The first is that you shouldn’t be afraid to get in the game.
Many times, this fear of “losing” will make someone stagnant. You’ve lost plenty of times. How many times did your coach yell at you for messing up? How many times did you make a mistake while you were practicing? How many times have you had a bad game? How many times have you lost a game?
Now, how many times did you just sit out of a game because you were afraid to lose? In sports, you don’t get that option. And I’m going to hold you to that same accountability in sales. You don’t get the option to just sit on the sideline. You’re a player! You’ve played your whole life! Nothing has changed but the vehicle, you’re still the participant.
The second piece is what will return you to your elite status!
The more you lose… the more motivated you are to win! When you first get started in sales you’re going to suck. Period. But if you keep playing, you’re going to eventually figure out how to start winning.
But it won’t be mindless. People talk about the “odds” of sales. That for me was created for laymen, which I don’t plan to be. There is truly a skill when it comes to sales. You can increase your odds of winning the more you accept sales as a craft and an art.
Behind all of this, you hate losing more than anyone else! Feel and accept the pain of loss and slowly you will start to improve, just like you started to improve at your sport. It’s not going to happen overnight.
But just like sports, you need to practice. The more hours you spend participating and educating yourself in the craft the better you will become!
With ownership over your craft along with your understanding of losing and acceptance that losing will only motivate you and push you to become your best. Your sales career is just waiting to take off (or really any career).
Continue taking ownership in sales over your results, good or bad. Things don’t happen to you. You have control in every situation.
Don’t be afraid of losing. You’ve lost plenty of times already. But this is also your fuel to improve. You’re not meant to be on the sidelines!
As an athlete that is now transitioning to the real world, I encourage you to remember what made you a great athlete and continue to tap into the system that created an incredible athlete. You’re not your sport. You chose your sport. The sport was the vehicle, and you’re the driver. You can be great at ANYTHING!
You just need to choose.
