Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 5:09AM Running for Sales...
Earlier this year, I participated in my fifth full marathon at Disney World in Orlando, FL. It wasn’t something new to me; I’d done this race before. However, this most recent race, I tried to shake it up a bit by partaking in the Goofy Challenge, half-marathon on Saturday followed by a full marathon on Sunday. Yes, I was nervous. No, I was not as prepared as I would have liked. It goes without saying; I’d spent the month or so prior to the race keeping myself motivated by reading books and magazines related to running.
Some of my favorite articles to read come from Runners World. In the January 2009 edition in an article that talked about some rules to live by as it comes to running, the writer got me thinking about how running can relate to sales. Make no mistake; I am a runner because I run. I wasn’t blessed with a runner’s body, nor do I look to break records in the races I run. However, I enjoy doing it (didn’t always) and I challenge myself to improve. Those two attributes are what make me a runner. Same goes for sales. You may not be the best sales person ever, nor do you need to be. As long as you enjoy it and challenge yourself to become better, you have what it takes.
So with all of that said, let’s take a look at the top ten ways that running is like selling. As always, please forward this article to anyone you feel might benefit from what it offers. Let’s begin:
10. Smile at Your Critics:
As a runner, you wouldn’t believe how many people feel it is their obligation to tell you that running is bad on your joints. “Oh, be careful with that...marathons aren’t good on your body.” Well my friend neither is sitting on my ass with a microwavable meal watching television, which is what I might be doing if I didn’t have running. For those critics out there, shut it.
For some reason, there can be an attitude that relates to sales as being for people of drama and talk. Nothing could be further from the truth. While yes, many individuals out there might possess these characteristics, they aren’t required. Typically the best sales professionals are actually great listeners and lack drama. So next time you tell someone you’re in sales and they expect you to talk a lot, prove them wrong and shut it.
9. Let Angry Motorists Go By:
If you’ve ever been out running on the roads you know that occasionally you will battle that, “I can’t pause for even a second,” driver. As you cross the road, they slowly creep out in front of you, making you wonder if they are going to stop. It takes everything you have from jumping on their hood and letting them know that YOU have the right of way. Hold that impulse, smile and wave no matter what digit they are flashing in your direction.
It’s no secret that when a customer is approached by a sales individual, immediately there is a defense mechanism that the customer throws up. It’s hard to explain, but we’ll just call it years of dealing with the attributes that are usually assumed in #10. Many times, these customers take their defense a bit too far by bashing your product and your organization. Like mentioned above, and as much as you’d like to throw out an Austin Powers judo chop, try and control yourself. Hold that impulse, smile and say, I’m sorry you feel that way. It’s like Jimmy Buffett says, breath in, breath out, move on...
8. Thank a Volunteer
If you’ve ever run a marathon, you know just how important it is to have those glasses of water or Gatorade ready for you at every mile. How great it is to have someone hand you a packet of energy gel at mile 20. How needed it is to have those individuals cheering you across that finish line. Those people doing that are called volunteers, thank them.
While sales is thought of as the life blood in most organizations, we sales individuals must remember that while without sales there is no revenue, without any other department there is also no revenue. Therefore, as a sales professional, make certain you are giving thanks to the team members out there that help you accomplish your goal. You are important, but so is everyone that helped get you that sale.
7. Open Ended Questions to Friends
Many runners will tell you that one of the toughest parts about having a “running buddy” is when that buddy feels it necessary to converse for the better part of the run. Don’t they see you gasping for each breath? How on earth do they expect you to talk? One of the ways to handle this situation is to become a great questioner. In other words, if you are able to ask deep open questions that require long thought out answers, it is they who will be doing all the talking. Problem solved.
Similarly, as a sales professional, it is your job to find out as much about the customer as you can before going into your “sales pitch” regarding why this product is right for them. If you are a good questioner, it will be seen in your ability to get your customers to do the majority of the talking.
6. Run Like a Dog
I was surprised when I read this one in ‘Runners World,’ as it flies a bit in the face of one of mine that are on this list later. What they meant by, “Run like a Dog” is that dogs don’t need watches to keep time. They don’t wear heart monitors or worry about the weather. They just go out and run and enjoy it. For me, I don’t take this as the writer saying to not have a plan. Rather, I think this is his way of being like Nike and saying, “Just do it.”
Same thing goes for sales. The corporate world has invested billions into finding ways to track our performance down to how many times we get a customer to say ‘yes.’ There is a point that this goes too far. Sure, you always want to improve, but at some point you have to do it for the love of the game. Forget about the economy; forget about how few prospects you’re working with, just do it!
5. Blisters Are a Badge of Honor
The article in Runners World talked about a black toe being a badge of honor, but I wasn’t certain everyone would know what I was referring to so I substituted a blister. Anyone who has put in a good amount of time knows that with time spent running comes blisters on the toes. Furthermore, anyone who has received these blisters knows that they are more than just an annoyance; they are a badge of honor. A reminder that you challenged yourself.
If you are in sales, and we all are, you also know that occasionally you will have people that don’t agree with you and tell you “NO!” That’s not a bad thing. That too should be seen as a badge of honor. It means that you at least asked for the sale, something that goes unaccomplished more times than not.
4. Good and Bad Days
Like any sport, and athlete, in running, you are going to have good and bad days. There have been days that I’ve taken off on a 10 mile run and ended up going 25. It just felt like I could run forever. However, there have also been times that I’ve taken off on a 10 mile run and only made it two miles. That’s the breaks. As a runner, there is no question as to whether or not you will have good and bad days. You’ll have both. Although, the more you train, the less often those bad days will make an appearance. But like all runners, I just pray that the good ones come when it counts.
I don’t care how long you’ve been in the industry, in what industry you’re in, if you are in sales, you too will have ups and downs. As mentioned previously on the Window Three Blog, some days it will feel like on a hot day you could sell ketchup popsicles to little old ladies wearing white gloves and sometimes you might think life in accounting might not be that bad. What matters is how you react to those difficult times. Don’t let them bring you down, learn from them.
3. Have Fun
Nothing will make running more difficult than if you aren’t having fun. The old saying, “Time flies by when you are having fun,” still holds true. And as someone who used to HATE running I can tell you that you do not want time to pass by slowly when you are in the middle of a 20 miler. Like anything else, when you enjoy it, running can change your day, your week, your year, even your life. I kid you not.
Let me start by saying this, if you don’t enjoy your career, then you need to figure some things out! As in NOW. Life is way too short to spend it doing something you don’t enjoy. That’s not to say that you should run out and quit your job right now. However, you should at least have a plan to get yourself into a better position. As a leader, I can tell you that the last thing I would ever want is someone working for me that doesn’t enjoy their career, and I don’t care how good they are.
If my best sales employee hated her job and came to talk to me about that, I would spend my time either finding ways to help her find more enjoyment or spend time helping her find something she does enjoy. While sure, I have a duty to the organization I am a part of, I have a bigger duty to my belief that the person who will one day judge me knows that when I had the opportunity, I helped others enjoy their life. Don’t mess around with this one. Enjoy what you do. Period. As my wife always tells me, “A person’s degree of success is directly proportional to the amount of pleasure they derive from what they do”.
2. Work on Something
When you are a Runner, one of the most important things to finding success is to always be working on something. If you aren’t pushing yourself in some way, be it time or distance you will lose that satisfaction that comes from improving your ability. In other words, have a plan. The marathoner that just starts running with no plan and hopes to be ready by race day is at a significant disadvantage to those runners that started six months ago with a strategy defined. That plan, and the gentle pressure towards improving with time allows them to first, keep from getting injured and second, maximize their abilities.
Sales or any profession for that matter should always be approached as an opportunity for growth. With that in mind, you should always be able to answer the question, “What are you working on?” with activities that improve how you present yourself to others. Like everyone else on this earth, you are in SALES, and that means improving how you interact with others.
1. Be Creative
Finally, we get to the number one way that Sales and Running are alike, creativity is essential. For runners in training, if you aren’t creative in your approach to your training runs, you will quickly get bored and dread putting in the time. This is why it is important to vary your distance, your course, your speed, your music and whatever else you can change up. Sometimes just changing the direction you go around a particular track or course can be enough to give you that needed emotion found in creativity.
Creativity is one of those characteristics that are VERY much undervalued. Lack of creativity is the number one reason for failure in anything. Be it relationships, careers, or sports. If there is no creativity, people, teams and players get bored and aren’t able to function at their peak. A couple with creativity keeps that spark, a person without creativity in their career gets bored, an athlete without creativity isn’t motivated. If you are thinking that creativity is something you are born with, you are wrong. As episode eight of the Window Three ‘Infused Coaching,’ proves, creativity can be taught!! Does your team have it?
In close, I would like to thank you for reading this article relating to Running and Sales. Do with it what you like, but I hope you feel comfortable passing it along to people in your life that you think might benefit from it. In my experience, runners are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I think that has something to do with the fact that they are constantly challenging themselves and benefiting from the motivation found in accomplishment. The same can be true for sales. Always be working towards a goal and striving to improve yourself! If you are interested in hearing more about our ‘Infused Coaching,’ please do not hesitate to contact us at windowthree@me.com. Have a great week!
Reader Comments (2)
I have forward this off to my team... It holds so many true statements, and I know they will see similarities in what we do in the medical sales field and the 'running' that Jon is referring to! Thanks for putting this together!
I especially like item 7 about open ended questions to friends. It's a great comparison, because it holds true for both running and sales. I've experienced that gasping before, due to talkative (and more in shape) run buddies, and open ended questioning helped me to not die during those runs. I've also been in sales meetings where the salesperson stomped the prospective customer with powerpoints and sales pitches and left the prospect feeling dissatisfied. On the other hand, I've also seen sales meetings where smart, open ended questions fired up great conversations, with the prospect doing most of the talking. The difference between those two types of meetings is amazing to see, and it really shows you the power of open ended questioning.