Sales and Sales Management Blog

The October monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Billy Cox’s ”It Takes a Winner to Become a Champion,” originally published at Salesopedia.  Billy’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

It Takes a Winner to Become a Champion
by Billy Cox

We’ve all heard “Champions are not born; they are made.”  This is true for YOU were not born a champion; you were born to win.  You were born with the God given potential to be, do or have anything you want in your life.  Zig Ziglar, author, salesperson, and motivational speaker, says, “In order to be the winner you were born to be, you must plan to win and prepare to win. Then and only then, can you legitimately expect to win.”

Research now shows that the talent; or lack of natural talent we were born with is irrelevant to great success.  This means the same skills that make Tiger Woods great are what can make you a champion.

Numerous studies have concluded that nobody is great without practice, experience and hard work. The reality is Preparation is the foundation for any level of Achievement.  Michael Jordan, one of  the greatest players in National Basketball Association history, practiced intensively long after the team practices were over. Jerry Rice practiced so hard that other players would get sick just trying to keep up with him.

The planning and preparing to win strategy works the same for sales, sports, or any aspect of business.  However, if you want to win at sales, how do you practice it?  Elements of sales such as presenting, negotiating, evaluating, product knowledge, or modeling others’ success is directly practicable.

The challenge is… you can practice your performance, but practice alone doesn’t guarantee success. There are many people who work hard for years without achieving winning results.  So what’s missing?  What’s missing is feedback. Feedback means you analyze your performance and you have others analyze your performance. You also compare your results to others in your profession.

Most salespeople don’t seek feedback; they wait around and hope that it doesn’t happen.  Without feedback, you don’t know how good you are.  If you don’t know how good you are, how can you become better?

Once you receive feedback you start practicing on improving key areas that will improve performance.  Example:  Example: Shooting basketball free throws alone won’t work; however, shooting free throws with a specific goal of making 8 out of 10 by practicing the shots, observing the results and adjusting your shot, then doing it over and over again will improve this part of your game. The more focused practice, the better the performance.

Tiger Woods began honing his golf skills when he was 18 months old.  He became the youngest player ever to win a U.S. Amateur Championship at age 18 and he has never stopped trying to improve his game. He still devotes many hours a day to conditioning and focused practicing.

The final step is to prepare yourself mentally.  This means rehearsing your performance in your mind.  Your mind doesn’t know the difference between something you visualize and something you actually do in reality.  Zig Ziglar reviews and practices his speeches for several hours before each seminar, even though he may have given that particular speech a hundred times.  Much of this practice is mentally visualizing his performance and his audiences’ response.  This gives him an edge that helps him consistently deliver a championship performance.

When I began my sales career I was young, inexperienced, and flat broke.  I quickly realized that if I wanted to compete with the top producers and earn the big bucks I had to improve my selling skills.  So, I set specific targets and I focused on improving my sales techniques.  Failure was not an option.  I practiced my presentation and close over and over and over again.  I painfully listened to myself on audios and watched myself on videos, I studied the techniques of the very best in the field of sales. I visualized the results I desired.  Then I applied those skills in real life and in front of real prospects.  I subsequently analyzed my results and then I made slight adjustments.  I repeated this process until I achieved the highest sales honors in my field.  I employ this same approach today in all areas of my personal and professional life.  My ultimate goal is to continually improve my game.

No, winning is not easy…. If winning were easy everybody would do it. This leads us to the biggest question about winning.  If we can mold ourselves into a champion, then why don’t more people achieve winning results?  Most people don’t win because hard work, commitment, discipline and focused practice is not easy. Why?  Because it’s the smallest of improvements, those you can’t even see, that separate superstars from average performers.

Most people constantly look for a magic bullet that will lead to their success.  When people fail they refuse to look in the mirror. They want to blame outside circumstances instead of looking inward. They don’t want to admit that they could have succeeded if they would have just worked a little harder and a little smarter.

So, as we enter the final quarter with high hopes, great expectancy and a burning desire to succeed, take time to identify specific areas of your life and business you want to improve, set definitive targets, and take massive action.  Then get feedback on what works and what doesn’t.  Make slight adjustments to your game and repeat the process.

I’ll leave you with this thought.  Successful people practice while others play, but those who practice today get to play the game they love at the highest level tomorrow, while those who play today will sit on the sidelines tomorrow only wishing they could be the champion they were intended to become.

The good news …Winning isn’t just reserved for the few; it’s available to everyone. Why?  Because you were born to win!  As Zig would say, to be the champion you want to be, you’ve gotta plan to win and you’ve gotta prepare to win. Then and only then, can you legitimately expect to win.

Sending you a little competitive edge!