Sales Lessons from the Olympics

Katie Ledecky

Watching the Olympics, we see these incredible performances by athletes like Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps (of course), and so many others--and say "Wow!"  Then we get up the next morning and go about our mundane jobs of selling insurance, or refrigerators, or air compressors, or houses, or whatever.  "What do they have that I don't have"? you may ask.   They are human beings just like us, born with bodies just like ours; some have overcome great physical, mental, or environmental obstacles--just like us.  What is it, then?
"Inc." magazine's Jeff Haden did a write up on Katie Ledecky and the psychology of success.  How do Katie, and other Olympians, do it?
1.  They work very, very hard.  "You can't be great at anything--unless you put in an incredible amount of focused effort."  Katie swims 6,000 yards in the morning and 7,000 yards in the afternoon. Every morning and every afternoon.  Not just when she feels like it.  "There are no shortcuts."  You have to work harder and longer hours than everyone else and that's the simple fact.
2.  They put in the time.  Jeff Haden: "Every extremely successful entrepreneur ... works more hours than the average person -- a lot more.  They have long lists of things they want to get done.  So they have to put in the time."  If you think you can be successful working 9 to 5, it ain't happening.  When everyone else goes home, you need to keep going--learning, growing, searching for new customers.  One of the best salesman I know told me the other day--"when I'm feeling really good about myself, I make cold calls because I know I can deal with rejection then."  He just keeps working--there's no way to be successful without continuous, hard work and long hours.
3.  Set hard goals--not easy ones.  Ledecky's goal was Olympic gold.  Wow!  How about setting a goal to get that customer that you never thought you could get?  Make a plan and work that plan step by step.  As Haden says, "Never start small where goals are concerned.  You'll make better decisions--and find it much easier to work a lot harder --when your ultimate goal is ultimate success."  ... When your ultimate goal is that impossible customer.
4.  And never stop.  "Ledecky won gold medals at the London Olympics and then set her sites on Rio".   Successful salespeople never stop establishing goals and then working harder than anyone else to achieve them.