Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship, defeating the Miami Heat. Here are 4 things about sales motivation I learned from the series:
Number One: Let your actions speak in place of words.
If your talking only serves to be a distraction — or worse yet, to allow others to develop the wrong perception about what you can do — then you’re setting yourself up for failure.
LeBron James and several of his teammates proclaimed last year how they would win not just one championship but many championships. The only thing it did was to set expectations far too high. As salespeople, we have to be careful not to sell expectations we can’t deliver.
This is not only a critical issue we have to watch during the sales process, but throughout the entire relationship with the customer. A quick way to destroy sales motivation is to make promises you can’t keep.
Number Two: Don’t allow anyone to tell you that you can’t do something.
We’ve all been told we can’t do something due to our talents or skills not being what they should be. The only thing this does is serve to limit us in what we set out to do.
The Dallas Mavericks were certainly not expected to do as well as they wound up doing. Many people at the beginning of the season were expecting nothing better than average. Despite all of the noise, the Mavericks refused to believe what others were saying and merely went forth and did what they knew they could.
Do we allow people to tell us there’s no use in trying to reach a customer others have not been able to reach? Make no mistake — your sales motivation is yours to own, protect and grow.
Number Three: Never stop until you succeed.
There is no reason to quit just because you didn’t achieve your goal. If you quit after you miss your goal, there is no chance you will ever achieve your goal.
Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks is 38 years old — certainly much older than the average player in the NBA. He could have retired from the game based solely on his age, but after having played and lost in two other finals, he could not walk away from the game until he won one.
Nothing is lost if we fail at something but learn something from our failure. All is lost if we fail and refuse to learn anything from it.
Number Four: Know when to use your resources.
There’s the old saying that even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Successful people know how to use their resources, both those close to them and those farther away.
Successful people are quick to tap others around them. The Dallas Mavericks did this on several fronts. First, they had two players who were key to their regular season that were not available down the stretch due to injuries, yet their coach failed to allow that to deter them.
Second, the Mavericks are well known for their outspoken owner who can many times make comments that only incite the opposition.
This year the owner, Mark Cuban, held his comments and chose not to be the center of attention. Remaining quiet allowed all of the resources to be applied against the goal — winning the championship.
You might say not only did Mark Cuban know how to use his resources, but he also let his actions speak in place of words.
It’s amazing also how similar the sales profession is to sports. There is so much we can learn and apply within our own sales motivation.
Just like in anything else, it’s not what we learn but what we use that will allow us to succeed. The Dallas Mavericks learned from their many defeats up to this point, and in so doing, rose to win the championship.
What championship are you going after?
Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
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