How is Golf Like Sales?

There are so many aspects of the game of golf that remind me of sales…..perhaps that is why I love to play the game. 

1. You don’t really play against someone else ….you play against yourself and your last performance. Just like in sales, if I don’t move a sale forward, the only one Im hurting is myself. Just like in golf, I am always analyzing my shot: what made it go left or right and what happened in my swing that caused that outcome. If you watch golf on TV, you will see the pros do this all the time. If they hit a bad shot, many times they put the club back down and re-swing to see what they did wrong. In sales, when I finish the sales meeting whether by phone or face to face, I analyze the call. I try to find out what made it turn out the way it did and what I could have said differently that would have created a different outcome?
2. It is emotional, but if I get overly emotional, it ruins the entire game. It is no fun, and typically I play worse. In sales, if I get emotional, it blocks my intellect, and I fail to ask good questions. I don’t hear what the prospect is saying, because I’m listening to my inner voice.
3. You play by yourself, and you don’t get a team that you can pass a ball to……it is all in your hands. It is helpful if you have a caddy….but only if you listen to them. This is much like a sales manager. They can be very helpful…..but only if you listen to them.
4. You have many clubs in your bag, and you must be good able to use all of them. If not, you will be pretty bad. In sales, you have plenty of tools, but if you are only good at prospecting and terrible at closing….you lose. Or, if you don’t use the CRM …You lose.

I’m sure there are more similarities, but you’ll have to think of them on your own.

If you have some salespeople working for you, and you want to be a better Caddy…don't miss our upcoming Sales Management Boot Camp!

-Tom