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Winning The Inner Game of Selling
by Richard F. Gerson, Ph.D., CMC
What is it about sales that attracts athletes? And what is it about sports that attracts salespeople to them in droves? The answer is very simple. Both activities involve many of the same psychological and mental challenges, processes and payoffs. In other words, we can get the same type of “high” or peak experience from a great sales presentation and close as we can from hitting the winning jump shot or sinking a 50 foot putt to win the company championship.
There are seven areas that make sales similar to sports. They are:
- Goal Setting and Achievement
- Positive Mental Attitude and Self-Confidence
- Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
- Visualization and Imagery
- Performance Under Pressure
- Playing In Front of a Crowd
- Competition and Cooperation
Let’s look at each one and describe the relationship between sales and sports.
Goal Setting and Achievement
This involves setting a variety of goals, including short, intermediate and long-term goals. It also involves your expectancies related to achieving those goals. While most people are familiar with goal setting, not that many people pay attention to their expectations for successfully achieving their goals. The difference between ordinary sales people and highly successful sales people are that top salespeople, and great athletes, actually believe they will achieve their goals more often (have a higher expectancy of success) than others who are not as successful. This belief then turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you believe you will achieve your goals, the more you will achieve them. And, as far as achievement goes, top athletes and salespeople also have an internal drive to achieve that allows them to take risks for the big win.
Positive Mental Attitude and Self-Confidence
This follows from the first characteristic, and will often precede it. Top performers who win the inner game believe in themselves. They have a very positive mental attitude about their capabilities and achievements without being “Polyannas”. They are realistic and know what to expect. They also work to steadily reinforce and rebuild their positive mental attitudes and levels of self confidence.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
We all possess these two types of motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to being a self-starter. It’s what motivates us to perform without any expectation of a reward. We do the task for the inherent satisfaction of completing it; doing a job well; and learning that we are capable of doing it. We simply enjoy performing that task.
Extrinsic motivation refers to things that cause us to perform that are external to our minds and bodies. This includes monetary rewards, plaques, days off, incentive trips, bonuses, etc. Extrinsic rewards will increase performance for a very short period of time. But, over time, extrinsic rewards will actually cause superior performances to disappear. That’s because the performer links the performance to the receipt of the reward instead of the inherent satisfaction from performing.
Top athletes and salespeople know that in order to sustain peak performance over time, they have to motivate themselves from within. Since no one will do it for them, they must do it themselves.
Visualization and Imagery
What the mind believes, the body achieves. Put another way, as long as you see it in your mind first, your body will do everything possible to make your images come true. That’s why we train athletes and salespeople to relax and picture their performances in their minds first before they go out and actually do something. Since the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or an imagined event, the nervous system will “lay down neural images” of the performance you are envisioning. Then, when a person actually does perform, it’s like déjà vu all over again. They’ve already been there and done that.
Performance Under Pressure
If there was ever two groups of people that had to perform under pressure on a regular basis, it’s salespeople and athletes. The stress caused by the expectations of success can be monumental. It takes a strong will, the ability to relax before and during a performance, and a well-trained mind to perform despite the pressure.
In addition to good stress management techniques, top performers know they have to balance activity with rest and recovery. Rest and recovery are as important to a successful performance as any type of practice. Just look at how you act and feel when you’re tired. You’re not at your best. You’re grouchy and cranky. You’re impatient with others. And, your performance suffers. That’s why we all need to rest and recover after a mental or physical workout. That’s when we grow to be our strongest.
Playing In Front Of A Crowd
While this may seem like more of a situation for athletes, salespeople must perform in front of their own crowds also. The crowds for salespeople include customers, bosses, colleagues, suppliers, staff members, and family. Any sales professional will tell you how hard it is to make a presentation to a group of prospects or clients. This intimate “crowd” can sometimes make or break you. That’s why each salesperson has their own “crowd” that they have to perform in front of, and they must be prepared for that performance.
Competition And Cooperation
Both athletes and sales people compete for “prizes”. They both like to win “championships”, and be recognized for their accomplishments. They compete with each other and with themselves. In both sports and sales, oftentimes there is one winner and many losers. But, performers who have won the inner game know that if they didn’t come out on top this time, their turn is coming. They will work harder next time to beat the competition. Or, they will work smarter and find someone with whom they can cooperate so that the two of them can beat the competition. We see a great deal of this approach in sales today with team selling, paired selling, and even working with competitors to serve and satisfy a customer.
The Salesperson As Athlete
By now, you have a pretty good idea that while every athlete is not a salesperson, every salesperson is an athlete. Salespeople must train hard mentally and physically. They must set their goals, overcome obstacles to their achievements, maintain a positive mental attitude with a high level of self-confidence, motivate themselves, picture success, and perform under pressure. They must develop and practice these skills on a regular basis, and that’s where the book, Winning the Inner Game of Selling, will be a tremendous help.
Richard F. Gerson, Ph.D., CMC, is president of Gerson Goodson, Inc., a marketing and management consulting firm that specializes in performance improvement for sales, marketing and customer service professionals. GGI has helped clients achieve sales and marketing improvements ranging from 10%-250%. For more information on consulting services, training programs, speeches or workshops, contact Dr. Gerson at 888-2DR-RICH (23-7424) or e-mail him at getrich@richgerson.com.
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