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    Champions are Not Perfect and The Difference Is That They Know It

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    In 2017, Roger Federer became the first man to win 20 major tennis singles titles. Largely recognized as one of the world’s top tennis players of all time, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was also known for his grace on the court and his philanthropic endeavors that address childhood poverty in Africa.

    You can find all these impressive details and more with a quick Internet search. The man is a legend. But when you review his accolades, what you won’t find is this simple, important, counterintuitively inspiring fact: He wasn’t perfect, not even at the sport he mastered.

    I recently came across a quote from Federer in which he talked about being imperfect and how embracing that fact made him into the champion that he is:

    Even top-ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play.
    Roger Federer, Tennis Legend

    Sales professionals can learn a lot from a player like Federer.
    Here are 5 take-aways.

    1. “When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot.”
      The sales profession can be a grueling and demoralizing one. Notoriously, salespeople have to learn to hear “no” over and over again and keep going anyway. I find it inspiring to remember that elite athletes have to do the same thing.

      This doesn’t mean that you don’t take the time to learn why you lost a shot and to learn from it. It means that when you lose a point–or a sale, or an opportunity–you dust yourself off and get ready for the next one.

      In complex sales, this can also be applied to the many activities and milestones you need to achieve to bring a new customer on board. In a large organization with many stakeholders, not every stakeholder is going to love you. Not every one of your meetings is going to go perfectly. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s mastery.
    2. “When you’re playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world, and it is.”
      One of the things that made Federer a master at tennis is that he took every single shot as seriously as every other shot. He knew that, although he wouldn’t win them all, each individual shot had the potential to make the difference between winning a tournament and not winning a tournament.
      So he took it that seriously.

      In the sales profession, it’s easy to get complacent about our work, to treat each new call like “just another call with just another stakeholder.” We go through the motions, showing demonstrations and having rote conversations without truly engaging with curiosity and focus, and we lose opportunities we might have won.

      Top sales professionals, however, treat every “shot”–each call, each email, each prospect interaction–as though it could make the difference between missing quota or becoming salesperson of the year, like it’s that important.
      Because it is.
    3. “But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you.”
      As salespeople, we need to learn to let go of the past once it’s over. Certainly, we should use the past as a lesson. Win/loss analysis and periodic performance reviews are opportunities for us to look at what we can do better so we can focus more effectively on the future.

      But we have to let go of the losses emotionally and mentally so that we can focus on winning the next one. After all, the next one might be an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN’s top 10 playlist.
    4. “You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments.”
      Roger Federer was not always known for his grace on the court. In the 2000 Olympics, matched against German player Tommy Haas, Federer’s temper got the best of him, and he slung a few rackets around the court.

      Haas credits Federer’s temper tantrums that year for opening the way for Haas to beat him and win a medal.

      But Federer overcame that hard moment and learned to control himself, to manage his emotions, and to stay focused and intent on the next shot every time. This learned self-control won the hearts of fans and made him not only a hugely successful tennis player, but a well-loved one as well.

      In sales, it’s important not to let our emotions get the best of us when things aren’t going our way. We’re not going to win every sale or land every interaction. If we get angry or give in to despair, we miss the chance to learn from the losses and stay focused on the wins.
    5. “The best in the world are not the best because they win every point.”
      We have to give up the idea that things should always go our way. Instead, focus on the mindsets, behaviors, processes, skills, and activities that provide that 1% or 3% advantage, and give every single shot your full attention and focus.

      When we lose, we can lose our temper, too, or we can learn and move forward.

    These five lessons from Federer are applicable not only to the frontline salesperson, but to everyone in the sales organization. Coaches aren’t going to knock every coaching session out of the ballpark. But they can remain focused and intent, learn from the past, let go of the failures, and treat every single coaching call like it could make the difference between success and failure. Sales directors aren’t going to win every budgetary conversation or make every decision perfectly, but they can focus on learning what they need to learn to win the next time. Sales executives aren’t going to succeed at everything, but they can go into every meeting, every decision, and every moment treating it like their actions are the difference between being good and being truly great, like it’s that important.
    Because it is.

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    George Brontén
    Published September 18, 2024
    By George Brontén

    George is the founder & CEO of Membrain, the Sales Enablement CRM that makes it easy to execute your sales strategy. A life-long entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the software space and a passion for sales and marketing. With the life motto "Don't settle for mainstream", he is always looking for new ways to achieve improved business results using innovative software, skills, and processes. George is also the author of the book Stop Killing Deals and the host of the Stop Killing Deals webinar and podcast series.

    Find out more about George Brontén on LinkedIn