Grip It and Rip It…Golf Your Way to Sales Success

This article was written by Ted Raymond – eCoast Corporate Training Manager.

In sales, as with many things, we all have strengths and weaknesses. Rarely does anyone excel in every aspect of selling. Strengths and weaknesses are just a natural part of our sales skills; unfortunately, it’s human nature for us to shy away from a weakness. We focus on our strengths, avoiding weaknesses altogether, and in the process, wind up limiting our development.

Let us consider the ultimate sales analogy…that of the professional golfer. A golfer must blend many different skills, (driving, chipping, putting, getting out of a sand trap, etc) in order to be successful. No matter how good you are at getting the ball on the green, if you can’t putt, your game will always be limited by that weakness. As a result, professional golfers spend hours upon hours practicing the shots they are weakest at. This is easier said than done because human nature tends to push us in the other direction. I, for one, would much rather be at the driving range hitting shots I feel good about than spending my day “putting around”. But if I truly want to be a better golfer, I have to get better at putting, and dedicate some time to improving my stroke.

Ok, how do we translate this into improving our sales skills? We follow some basic steps:

1. First…accept that we, as people, are going to have strengths and weaknesses, it’s not a question of right or wrong, good or bad…it’s just how it is.
2. Take a very objective look at yourself and identify a weakness. Be very honest. If you have strong sales skills, but have a hard time with call volume, that’s a weakness. Remember: you are being objective, so nothing should be identified as good or bad. By looking objectively, we have embraced a weakness.
3. The next step is to flip it around and turn the weakness into an opportunity to improve. A weakness is a negative, and if we leave it alone, it remains a weakness; but by embracing that weakness, we approach our abilities from a positive standpoint and see it as an opportunity.
4. Determine what can be gained or achieved by seizing this opportunity.
5. Determine what steps (even small ones) should be taken to see improvements.

The pay off? Even a small improvement in what was once a weakness (now an opportunity) will net much bigger gains in the long run.

With these five steps one can easily go from an “I can’t putt” mentality to an “if I can make just one less putt per hole for 9 holes, I have improved my score by 9 shots” goal-seeking mentality. So, get out there, improve your putt, and determine your fate next time you hit the green.

Tagged as: closing sales, sales tips