Sales Lessons From Putting

I was having one of those days, when just none of my putts seemed to want to drop. I could easily have got dispirited about it all, but I've learned how this doesn't help subsequent putts or the rest of the game to come.

More importantly however, I now know how to keep going, put behind me what has happened and stay focused - just one putt at a time and forget those (at least during the game) that don't drop....

As the golfing God seemed to continue testing my sense of humour, a thought occurred to me about the parallel of this situation to sales. Putt's not dropping it seemed to me, are like sales calls or processes that end up in a "No!".

They are going to happen and on some days you get more than others. Sometimes it seems like we get a whole string of "No's", one after another.

The important question in situation is how do we combat this phenomenon without getting dispirited? How do we keep going doing the best we can in the face of this disappointments?

The first thing we need is a robust pre-stroke routine or sales process that has been honed and streamlined for optimum execution. If we have a sloppy 'technique', sometimes it will work and other not. However, even more importantly, if there are inconsistencies in what we do (even if we are aware of them) there is no way of determining what went wrong and what improvements might help.

Once we've executed the process and stroke, at the pace and on the line we committed to, there is nothing we can do to influence the outcome. It depends on whether we 'read the situation' accurately, executed perfectly and there are no unforeseen bumps on the lie of the green to the hole. We either accept the result... learn, adjust and move on, or get upset / frustrated at missing another putt (or sale) and then proceed to mess up subsequent shots and opportunities.

If we are not stroking the ball on the line we intended, much like not getting that sales appointment. Again we can get dispirited or learn from it and hone our 'technique' even more.

Part of the process also needs to be the ability to keep our focus in the 'present' and not dwelling or bemoaning the past. We need to learn the essential steps and skills necessary to do this and help keep our minds from wondering 'off the ball'.

When we learn to understand and discipline our mind and develop the ability to focus in the moment on the process (not the result), which are a part of the "Essentials of Peak Performance", improved outcomes and experiences are the result.

"Success is a Mind Game: make sure you have the mind for success