Be the Tom Brady of Sales!

Posted by John Livesay in blog 0 comments

What if you could take the three elements that make Tom Brady consistently successful and use them in your own career?

Here are three things you can start doing now:

Discipline

Tom Brady has a famously strict diet and is disciplined in his workout routine. For example, take a look at his daily schedule, according to the NYPost:

5:30 a.m.: Wake up, drink electrolyte water and smoothie
7 a.m.: Breakfast with the family
8 – 10:30 a.m.: Hit the gym for strengthening and conditioning
10 a.m: Beach time
11 a.m.: Review game footage
Noon: Lunch
3 -5 p.m.: Team practice or, in the off-season, surf, and workout
5-6 p.m.: Post-workout pliability session
6 p.m: Dinner with family
7 p.m.: Review films, strategy w/ Coach, charity work
7:30 p.m.: Family time, including reading to kids
8:30 p.m.: Lights out and sleep

Do you map out your day, week, and month like this? If it’s not scheduled, it does not get done! To map out your workday, you need to prioritize three areas:

1. Attract: How much time do you spend marketing your business and/or reaching out the clients?

2. Convert: How much time are you actually having conversations to see if and how you can help people solve their problems with your solutions?

3. Deliver: How much time are you actually giving a talk (if you’re a speaker like I am) or running your coaching program? Are you hitting it out of the park every time, or are you letting yourself get a little rusty?

Most people are great at the delivery of their product or service, but they ignore the first two steps of attracting new clients and converting them into paying clients. When this happens, your “pipeline” dries up, and you find yourself after a big project with no potential clients on the horizon. The solution is to be as disciplined as Tom Brady, or any Olympic athlete. Schedule time for each of the 3 keys to selling success. Sales is all about “making your plan and working your plan,” which now includes having stories ready to go.

Focus

Brady believes in himself and his abilities. He does not let age define him! What story are you telling yourself about your skills, and whether it’s too early or too late for you? Sometimes, salespeople change careers or territories just like Tom Brady changed teams and still managed to win!

When I was a competitive swimmer in high school, I was always coming in 2nd place. Then one day I had a race where I came in 1st place as I swam breaststroke and stayed focused on the wall ahead of me. It had touchpads that measured time to the thousandth of a second. When I asked what made me win, they told me the guy who usually beat me turned his head to the side to look to see if he was ahead of me or not. That half-second of taking his eyes off the wall caused him to lose. What is the lesson for you? When you focus on your own progress, you win!

Respect

Like Brady, it is important to have self-respect for your skills. Tennis pro Arthur Ashe said, “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” When you respect your potential buyers enough to do the preparation and have stories ready to go that are compelling, you will be the Tom Brady in your career.

How can we give out anything we don’t first give to ourselves? We know everybody wants to be respected, but if we don’t first start by respecting ourselves, it can be hard to give to others. Remember: Respect is earned. It is not something you can buy. The best way to build up your self-respect and self-esteem is to be as prepared as possible. That way, regardless of the outcome, you know you did your best. Some people like to wing it and that never works. They end up being pushy and forgettable. This is especially true if your competitors are treating an upcoming pitch like the Superbowl of meetings. Up your game and give yourself the respect you deserve by putting in the time to properly prepare! Have a story ready to go that will make you memorable and magnetic.

Learn more about how to tell great stories and find out if and how I can help you become the Tom Brady of your team!