Tips: Make Every "Pitch" Count
I love baseball. I watch a lot of baseball. I watch in person and on TV. In my humble opinion, baseball is symbolic to life itself. Every day a game is played, thousands of decisions are made, and each one of them affects the outcome. From the pitcher and catcher deciding what pitch to throw, to the short stop deciding where to position himself, and the umpire calling balls & strikes. Every pitch, every moment, is a possible game changer. As a sales professional thousands of decisions are made throughout the selling process. In our game, there are dozens or hundreds of players. Each of those interactions may have an effect on the potential outcome. Some have major impacts (error at 3rd base) or minor impact (giving up a run when you are up 6-0). It might be whether or not we received an order from the customer, or a promotion to the home office. We all know that when we look back, we will see that there are two or three things that had to have happened just right. Just like baseball, there is a possible game changer in everything we do. Why is this relevant? It’s because every day we are put in positions to make decisions. Go left, or right. Pick up the phone or send an email? Say yes or no, ask this or that. Our game might be longer than 3-hours, but you have to think about what all of the other players in our life are doing, and make the right choice so you can be a winner in the end.
As professional sales people, we need to keep these things in mind. If you lose focus, if you make the improper decision, or your competition is making better moves in the outfield, you may lose. When you look back and try to determine why you won or lost that order you can see where you made the difference, or where your competition stumbled. A professional will take those learning opportunities and improve upon them or get rid of the bad habits that may have lost you that game. Professional athletes get to go review the tape of the game. Hitters can see if they are dropping their heads, and coaches can see if their instructions on placement were right. As sales professionals, we have replays available also. They might be in the form of notes from a meeting, emails and proposals written, or ad hoc conversations in the hallway. Win or lose, we need to review all of the interactions we had with the players to see if we can pinpoint what we did. At Pinnacle Sales, we recommend extensive note taking during and after every interaction. These after-action de-briefings need to be done while everything is fresh in your mind, and you can remember not only what was said, but most importantly how it was said and what the body language may have been screaming as well. We treat a sales professional just like a professional athlete, and coach to their strengths and weaknesses. There is no reason a day-to-day sales situation can’t be met with the same focus and determination as a professional athlete.
If you are having issues with your swing, give us a call at Pinnacle Sales, LLC and we can help you review the tape!
Pinnacle Sales, LLC
418 Main St. Suite 6, Belleville, MI 48111
(734) 325-6557
mkole@pinnaclesales-llc.com