Football and Sales

With the football season just around the corner, I am reminded of the beautiful, yet brutal game I played in my youth. I loved the game and although my sports career ended after high school, I nonetheless can’t wait for each new season to watch my beloved University of Georgia Bulldogs take the field.

It is a sight to see. Every play, be it offensive or defensive, is carefully orchestrated, choreographed and practiced to perfection.

There are many similarities between sports and sales, which is probably why sports analogies are often intertwined with business lessons. In both cases, a team is executing strategies that have been thought out and rehearsed. Above all—football and sales are both contact sports, each in its own way.

In business, “contact” can mean three things.

THE SUPPORT NETWORK. The first contact is your support network—your team. Very few achieve a high level of success without help from others. Even with such individual sports as boxing, swimming, running or driving racecars, there is a team (coaches, caddies, pit crew, etc.) working behind the scenes, contributing to the success of the individual.

For you, that means a team of trusted advisors, including suppliers as well as legal, accounting and business coaches, who hold you accountable and are focused on moving you toward your goal. A competent and supportive team will help carry you to new heights, and pick you up out of the gutter when you need it.

THE CLIENT. The second contact is the client. There is typically a conversation between the client and agent, which results in an outcome—the sale. That conversation may take place in person, over the phone, via text or email, or through a combination of all four.

It is important to remember that all are simply tools to facilitate the contact or conversation.

Although such commodity products as air, car, and hotel are easily booked without the human touch, vacation packages typically require an actual contact. Expedia has a huge call center to facilitate this, as does Costco and other online retailers.

This is also one of the reasons why Expedia acquired CruiseShipCenters. FYI—virtually all vacation packages sold by an OTA involves human contact with the client.

THE FOLLOW-UP. Part of your job is to hold onto as many customers as possible. So, the third “contact” is the followup. Maintaining contact with existing customers is much more cost effective than finding new ones.

Since less than 30 percent will typically use your services again, the more you can communicate with current and past clients, the more likely they are to book with you again. With a little effort, the long-term payoff can be huge.

As is the case with football, sales can be brutal. The rejection one must cope with as a salesperson can be debilitating. Framed properly, however, it can be a great motivator.

It takes a team effort to achieve sustained success. While a certain amount of automation is good, it never replaces an actual conversation. I encourage you to build your support network, talk to your customers and make them feel good about doing business with you.

Go Dawgs!