I know the Super Bowl may already seem like a distant memory, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to show the direct link between the Super Bowl and sales motivation. Sunday night two teams took the field, both had an incredible level of talent and yet at the end of the evening, the team that was not picked by Vegas to win wound up winning.
Does this mean they were the better team? Yes, for this particular evening, they were the better team. And I contend it came down to the ability of the Saints’ coach to have a game strategy that compelled him to take gambles when he needed to. Some of the gambles worked and others didn’t, but through it all, he never lost focus of his strategy. He and his team never lost focus of their motivation and desire to win.
Sales is a lot like a football game. It takes talent but it also takes strategy and motivation, and what I’ve found more times than not, the salesperson who has the highest level of sales motivation will in time be able to overtake the salesperson who is more skilled but lacks motivation. I’m not saying the Colts lacked motivation; no, not at that level, as no team is ever going to get to the Super Bowl without an incredible level of motivation. What I am saying is the Saints were able to take advantage of opportunities when they arose due to their high level of motivation and were better able than the Colts to capitalize on them.
(If you’re asking me who I was rooting for, it wasn’t the Saints. I wanted the Colts to win and fully expected to see them defeat the Saints.)
As a salesperson, pay close attention to keeping your motivation strong so that you too will be able to strategize and capitalize when it matters most.
