Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching
What Sales People can learn from Baseball
As Major League Baseball Spring Training draws to a close and we get ready for opening day in April, I wanted to point out something these players share with sales people.
There have been various quotes on this topic throughout the years, but here's my take on this - Baseball is a sport where its players are considered exceptional by averaging a hit in only 3 out of every 10 at-bats (batting opportunities). This means that 7 out of every 10 times the batter fails to get a hit (unless we are talking about sacrifices – which are a very strategic part of the game and a whole different topic).
Also, the baseball league keeps very specific records for each batter - and they're even broken down by who the pitcher is, the type of pitch thrown, the number of outs, and the number of people currently on base.
There are a lot of similarities here that sales people can learn from baseball:
- In the sales process, you're probably going to hear "no" more than you hear "yes". This is a very common sales statistic, and understand that every "no" is one step closer to a "yes".
- Make sure you celebrate every "yes".
- Track your progress throughout the sales process so you can establish your own batting average. Once you understand your average, you can attempt to improve it.
- Try different approaches to the same situation (and track them) to see if you have better success.
- You'll have multiple opportunities each day to further your sales efforts – pick yourself up after you strike-out and get ready for the next opportunity.
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Have a great sales week!