Train Like Athletes, Sell Like Champions: Structured Sales Excellence

Know the objectives. Know the targets. Know the current position. /Kevin Wash

I have always believed there are strong parallels between business and sport especially in sales. Top performers win the big games, earn the big money, and enjoy the rewards of their success.

Top teams are analysed to the finest detail to improve by even 0.1% because that margin can be the difference between winning and losing. Nothing is overlooked in elite sport when it comes to achieving and sustaining success. Nothing stagnates.

Take tennis. It’s an individual sport, yet behind that one player is often a team of up to 15 people covering physical training, nutrition, mentality, technique, stamina, and even hitting partners.

These players don’t cut corners. They invest in their careers. They train, work, train, work and commit. Their teams do the same. Everyone knows their role, their value, and the goals monthly, by tournament, by ranking, by year. Every detail is checked, then checked again.

The culture is simple: we will win, we will improve, we will climb the rankings, we will perform at our best every day, and we will execute the strategy.

Now compare that to many companies selling products, property, finance, retail, commercial it doesn’t matter.

Too often you’ll find disengaged support teams with little awareness of targets or progress. Sales teams are underinvested in. Processes are outdated and inefficient, but “that’s how we’ve always done it,” so nothing changes yet better results are still demanded

(Einstein’s definition of insanity comes to mind).

Salespeople get fired. Marketing gets blamed. The training manager is dusted off and wheeled out to onboard new hires using the same tired methods.

And the sales managers? They barely learn the new hires’ names most won’t last a second month.

The culture becomes:

“I’ll do just enough not to get fired and earn just enough to get by. Why should I care about rankings or achievement? What’s in it for me? Strategy? What’s that?”

At some point, someone even decided to hide the fact they were in sales behind job titles.

Now we have BDRs, CDRs, ABCs Hunters, Farmers, Ducks, Geese and who knows what else.

Meanwhile, a tennis player is still called a tennis player. They haven’t become a “Director of Global Velocity.” So why hide what the job actually is?

Here’s an idea: train your teams like athletes. Invest in making them the best possible version of themselves. Believe in them.

Train and then train some more. Then let them grow.

They will repay that investment thousands of times over.

Let them compete. Let them go deep. Let them win their own “grand slams.” Let them take pride in what they do and keep doing it. Training isn’t something you did; it’s something you do.

They’re not “Growth Ambassadors” or “Revenue Directors.” They’re salespeople and there’s pride in that.

And here’s the real curveball: do the same for your support teams.

Align everyone with the company’s goals. Know the company targets, make progress visible daily. Show how close they are to being number one. Show what’s coming next and how to respond.

We know culture eats strategy.

So build a culture where every person is encouraged to be the best version of themselves, every single day.

Know the objectives. Know the targets. Know the current position.

Then watch engagement grow and watch the strategy get executed, again and again.

Give people the support.

Create the firework,  Light the blue touch paper… and stand back and enjoy the show.

Written by Kevin Wash / VOS Consultants