"Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser" Vince Lombardi

Well... "Here is looking at you kid!

I admit I have Bronco Nation running through my blood, albeit Boise State Orange.  Was I happy the Broncos won, of course. Peyton Manning, whether winning or losing is a class act.

Peyton Manning and Cam Newton two phenomenal athletes at polar opposite spectrums of their careers. By now who hasn't watched the video clip of Cam walking out on the media, I laughed to myself as I watched. Watching the video a few more times I wondered, "Is this how a leader is supposed to act?"

The chatter is everywhere calling him a "poor sport" and a "sore loser". Through winning and losing there are lessons to be learned from Cam Newton. We all have dealt with some form of competition whether it be when we were in school, in our own household, within our friendships or even within the sales environment. 

Watching Cam Newton had me thinking... Lose with grace and win with dignity.

As a society, are we really encouraging our young performers to thrive when they bear witness to immature, selfish and thoughtless actions from their adult leaders?

This got me thinking... as the Cam Newton wake-up call to losing.

  • Is your sales team committed to winning consistently?  Why or why not?
  • What are you doing about it?
  • How much are you influencing and coaching your sales team to win or lose?

As sales reps we all have the capacity to be loser's. We have the loser's voice and the winner's voice. The loser's voice is often the strongest because it’s so easy to fall under its seduction, its lure. The winner’s voice continually needs strengthening, it needs discipline, focus and action.

Practice being a sales winner, practice getting up earlier, focusing for longer periods on your work without getting distracted (excuse me do you have a few minutes?). Practice hustling and working your ass off. Practice taking the right risk, as you may surprise yourself with what you can accomplish. Practice being in the "sales" moment rather than constantly worrying about capturing yourself and hypnotizing yourself of being in the moment.

"Don't Let the Fear of Losing be Greater than the Excitement of Winning" Robert Kiyosaki

Stop Being a Good Loser and Learn to Win More...

1. It is a decision - Every important decision begins with commitment to a course of action leading to the desired outcome. We live in a technology driven, hyper-connected society. Therefore, as sales reps we must make a pledge to become voracious learners with a huge appetite for self-improvement. The daily game plan consists of expanding your mindset and skill set. Choices, you decide.

2. Closely examine what is working and not working - Critique yourself as to what went wrong by pinpointing what went wrong. Top-performing sales teams routinely spend time strategizing with their managers, finding innovative ways to overcome client and prospect objections while tackling obstacles which may be preventing sales deals from closing.

3. Reinforce, augment and enhance selling methodologies - A good defense is sometimes the best offense. What may have worked years ago may not work today. No better analogy than in sports. Look to baseball, basketball and even football... can you imagine where these sports would be without augmenting, enhancing and changing with the times? The B2B journey has been turned upside down. What matters to your clients and prospects has changed. The resources as to how they obtain their information has changed. Learn to accept and quit resisting. 

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment" Buddha

What worked for sales teams in the past may no longer be relevant in the present, resulting in lackluster and spotty sales results.

Why is this happening? 

Very simple, people are buying in different ways than they did five or ten years ago, largely due to the internet. Because of this sales teams must adopt and adapt new sales methodologies to evolve like never before.

Help turn your sales team into winners and not second place finishers (no Cam Newton syndrome) 

 

"The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example" John Wooden

Three Simple Ideas to Coach your Sales Team to become Winners

 

 1. Coach your sales team to connect with the buyer - sales reps who win connect with people. They bridge the gap while connecting the dots between needs and solutions. In the August 2012, Harvard Business Review; Corporate Executive Board proclaimed The End of Solution Sales. The concept of solution selling has worked because clients and prospects didn’t know how to solve their own problems, even though often times they had a good understanding of what their problems were. Fast-forward to the present, sophisticated buying teams are armed with mass quantities of data and can readily define solutions by themselves without speaking with sales reps.

Coach sales reps to become change creators. Create practice sessions to inspire your sales reps to improve not how they currently sell but change how they sell.

"Most reps rely on a customer to coach them through a sale; star reps coach the customer." Corporate Executive Board

2. Coach your sales team to collaborate with the buyer - Sales reps who are winning bring creative insights when given the opportunity to sit at the business table. When it's all said and done, how the potential client feels about the sales rep is the final deciding factor. Prospects today will ask themselves what they are getting over and above just the product and or service. Sales reps must offer additional value through collaborative efforts. They must bring with them and be able to deliver fresh perspectives along with new sets of ideas; as this will ultimately become their prospects preferred choice.

3. Coach your sales team to convince the buyer - Sales reps who win convince their prospects their recommendation maximizes return and minimizes the risk associated in doing business with them. As long as sales reps have built the relationship, established trust and credibility then they have earned the right to convince. Sales reps often times feel uncomfortable in doing too much convincing with prospects as they worry people will doubt their intent. They are afraid it will hurt their “trusted advisor” positioning. Help them solve their business problems or challenges and you have earned the right to convince.

Your prospect and clients are looking to learn something new and useful. They expect sales reps to come to the executive table with some real insight about their business. Sales reps who are aligned with their prospects in a strategic-partnership approach and get involved long before the ball crosses the 50 yard line can increase sales revenue, improve interactions not only with prospects but with their key clients as well.

In sales there is no prize for finishing second. All you need to do is ask Cam Newton.

If you enjoyed please share your comments. Look forward to connecting and starting a conversation.

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I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform and coach copier sales professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help independent office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy