Dialogues for Results

PLAYING TO WIN! Valuable lessons from the game of football for the game of sales...

It’s November 8th, 1975 and Rudy Ruettiger is carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates after making the one and only tackle of his Notre Dame Football career. Did those 27 seconds make Rudy one of the most famous graduates of Notre Dame, or his previous twenty plus years of determination and hard work?

I am absolutely addicted to the inspiration I get from sports movies, particularly ones about football! They tell stories of players showing up to outperform the other team by outperforming themselves. As each player has the opportunity in each quarter of every game to achieve a new personal best, there is always that magical film moment when one or more players accomplish more than anyone thought possible.

In football, only one team wins, while both teams win in sales. That difference aside, there are a great many similarities between the two games. Both are games in which talent, skill, strategy, passion, and determination matter; both are games in which there are no do-overs. To execute winning plays in both games requires the player’s mental and physical ‘muscles’ to be well developed and in sync.

If you’re playing the sales game to win, adopt the winning behaviors of football players, in fact of all athletes, as your own.

1.Practice

Vince Lombardi, on his first day with the Green Bay Packers, told his team that they would “relentlessly chase perfection in order to catch excellence.” Players dedicated to catching excellence train physically, practice the fundamentals, and execute plays from their Play Books over and over again; even when they are winning games.

The game of sales has a Play Book that consists of sales techniques and planned dialogues. If you’re in the game to win, you must practice the sales techniques and planned dialogues in your Play Book over and over again, until they are as automatic as breathing. Because 90% don’t come back, you must execute 100% of your process with 100% of your customers. Just like in football, you really only have one shot to win.

I’ve often heard salespeople say they don’t want to practice planned dialogues because they’ll sound ‘canned’…they’ll sound like salespeople. How silly would it be if Eli Manning said he didn’t want to practice because he might look like a quarterback! What would the outcome have been of this year’s Super Bowl if Eli and his teammates hadn’t practiced?

That being said, it is true that until the techniques and dialogues are ingrained in you, while you are in the process of learning, there will be a period of time during which you may sound ‘canned’. Practicing with greater intensity and frequency will reduce this time greatly. Schedule time every week with a peer, or with your mirror and a tape recorder, to practice discovery, overcoming objections, differential demonstrations and closing.

2.Know Your Competition

Dedicated players acknowledge that they are competing against themselves, not just the players on the opposing teams. Analyses of their own strengths and weaknesses are as important to the winning strategy as analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of other teams. Acceptance of feedback from coaches about their own performance is a sign of a player’s strength, and evidence of their commitment to excellence.

For salespeople, this winning behavior has three applications. First, conduct thorough CMAs to become an expert on the new home builders and area re-sales that directly compete with you. This knowledge will allow you to proactively position yourself as unique and superior in your dialogues with your customers, and to resolve any objections that may arise. Second, use purposeful, planned discovery during every encounter to become an expert on the customer. It is discovery that gives your differential demonstrations emotional relevance, and your objection resolutions more power. Third, commit to excellence by embracing all opportunities to elevate your performance. This involves a willingness to accept feedback, to invest in books and seminars, to role play & practice with peers, and to welcome mystery shops as learning experiences.

3.The Best Defense Is A Strong Offense

It’s game time when all the practice and knowledge culminates in the artful executions of plays. The offensive team’s goal is to score points by getting the ball into the end zone via touchdown or field goal. The defensive team’s goal is to stop the opposing players from advancing by proactively ‘handling’ the player who might get the ball, and reactively tackling the guy who does.

More than ever before, today’s market demands that you have a strong offense. Control the encounter to advance to the sale, like the team controls the ball to advance down the field. This means using your techniques and planned dialogues for discovery, differential demonstrations, and closing. This means that if you can’t score points with a touchdown, i.e. Securing the Sale, then score points with a field goal, i.e. a home site reservation. Or, if those fail, score points with a follow up appointment, and an agreement as to what will happen next in the buying process. No matter what, do not let any encounter conclude without scoring points!

Sometimes you have to go to your defensive game…this means having prepared resolutions for customer specific objections. This is the reactive tackle of the guy with the ball. But, remember, in football, defensive players also proactively handle the opponent who might get the ball. In sales, you can do the same. Take control and bring up any universal objections before the customer does to either shelve them until you are ready to resolve them, or to eliminate them completely. This proactive technique is a lot more powerful than the reactive tackle!

4.Winning Attitude

All the practice and knowledge in the world can be negated in an instant by a negative attitude. You have the choice every day to show up to sell with either a positive winning attitude, or a negative one. Today, a winning attitude alone will not yield you the results you desire, but a winning attitude combined with practice, artful execution, knowledge and a strong offense means you will sell more homes, more often.

A positive winning attitude gave Rudy the strength and determination to pursue his dream. His 20 plus years of hard work and discipline culminated in 27 seconds of greatness. Does luck sometimes play a role in winning? Yes…but without knowledge, skill and a winning attitude, a player might not know what to do with the luck. If you want to sell more homes, more often, if you want to achieve greatness, you must decide to “chase perfection to catch excellence’. The power is in within you…it is entirely up to you!
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