If you ask any player on our team, these are the top five messages that Coach teaches:
1. Have Heart and Hustle
Your heart and your hustle are two things that you can control. In baseball, you can't control the umpire's calls or what your teammates do. Focus on what you can control, how hard you play and how much effort you put into the game. The same lesson should be applied in sales. As much as we like to think we can, we can't control our client's decisions. What we can control are the amount of calls we make, appointments we go to, and follow up's we do. Put all your heart and hustle into your daily sales life. You will soon learn that you may not win every game, but you'll certainly be in every game.
2. Be Confident
Sports and sales are all about confidence. If you don't have it, it shows. People can sense a lack of confidence a mile away and it could affect their trust in you, so think about yourself being financially independent, like you don't need the business. How confident do you feel now? If that doesn't work, fake it till you make it! Be warned, there is a difference between confidence and overconfidence. Stay focused, calm, and sure of yourself. You don't want your sale to fall through just because you thought it was a home run.
3. Have a Short Memory
Errors and strikeouts happen on the field, just like a bad phone call to a prospect, or a no-show appointment, happens in sales. Have a short memory. The more you dwell on the negative event, the less likely you are to immediately pick up the phone and make that next call. Remember, don't let a past performance affect future results.
4. Be the Best You
Each player on a team has different skill levels, just like sales people in an office. Don't measure your sales ability against anybody else. Set personal goals to steadily increase what you did last week/month/quarter. You'll stay positive, and soon enough those small gains will result in a huge success.
5. Win with Grace and Lose with Dignity
Winning and losing are part of life. It's how we react and deal with it that truly defines us. Take time to thank the prospect that chooses to go in another direction, let them know how appreciative you are for the opportunity to be in the conversation with them. You may not change anything at that time, but you keep the opportunity for a future sale.
Whether you're a kid on a baseball diamond, or a professional in a sales office, if you stay focused, have a plan, and keep a positive attitude, wonderful things will happen.
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