You may wonder how I can tie a sales motivation blog post into anything about the Miami Heat. Interestingly, some nuggets of sales insights are there if you look. If you follow the NBA, you’ll know the Miami Heat were picked by the egos of the Miami Heat players and the swooning media as the “dream team” that would run away with the NBA title and vie for recognition as the greatest NBA team ever assembled.
But then something happened on the way to the locker room. It seems despite having truly incredibly talented players, the Miami Heat is losing games, even to teams with records below .500. For a team with this much talent, it simply should not be happening. But it is.
There is a lot we can take from the Miami Heat and use to help us with our sales motivation. First is that talent does not mean everything. You can have all the talent and skill in your profession and still not measure up. Second, going out mouthing off to everyone about how great you are doesn’t mean anything — if anything, it can hurt your success level. Third, expect the unexpected. No matter how much you may think you can plan for everything, you can’t. Stuff happens and you have to respond to it. Fourth, success requires a team no matter how good you might think you are. To really be successful, you have to have a team.
The point I take the most interest in is the second one — the issue of mouthing off. It’s far too easy to go out and proclaim to everyone how good you are and how you plan to not just beat the next year’s goals, but shatter them. Yes, it’s important to be confident, but what I’ve seen too many times is when people start mouthing off too much to others, they start to believe their own success and begin not being as aggressive as they should be.
This is why on many occasions we see people who face significant obstacles still achieve incredible results. These people are driven by their personal desire to win and their sheer determination and focus. This then is the heart of sales motivation. It’s not what you say publicly; it’s what you think privately and ultimately do.
As you prepare for the year ahead, put yourself not in the shoes of the Miami Heat players mouthing off, but instead in the shoes of the dedicated and focused salesperson — the one you know you are. Prepare yourself now to overcome obstacles. Work closely with team members on not just achieving your goals, but exceeding your goals.
Copyright 2010, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
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