Golf is a Lot Like Sales

I have a lot of friends that are sales professionals who would say that golf should be part of the sales process, but analogous to sales? Yes and here is why.

I think everyone would concur that the degree of difficulty associated with differentiating products or services has increased dramatically over the past decade. What once was a clear differentiator for a company is now just another “me too” feature. Yesterdays “a-has” are today’s ticket to the game. The margin of differentiation is now razor thin for many companies; and, given no clear way to differentiate, people will default to price as the tie breaker.

It has always been true, but now more than ever, the sales person can be the clear differentiating factor that tips the scales in favor of your product or service at a slightly higher price. I am not talking about a huge margin of victory that is required to accomplish this. If the sales professional can gain even the slightest of advantage, it might be enough to win the day. This is where the golf analogy comes into play.

Through the month of April, well known golfer Ernie Els was the top money winner on the PGA Tour checking in with a little over $3.1 million in winnings in 2010. An equally well known golfer (although for different reasons) is John Daly. Generally recognized as pro golf’s bad boy, John has earned just under $46,000 in Tour winnings thus far in 2010. I guess that isn’t a huge surprise, but here is where it gets interesting. Through the first 4 months of 2010 Ernie was averaging 69.84 strokes per round of PGA tournament golf. During that same time period John Daly was averaging 71.53 strokes per round. Ernie Els’ average round of golf was only 1.69 strokes per round better than John Daly’s yet he had earned over 67 times as much money! In golf, as in sales, it is pretty clear that even the smallest of differences can make a HUGE impact on financial results.

Can your sales team be a couple of strokes better than the competition? Just like the game where even a couple of strokes can make the difference between winning big and obscurity, a couple of strokes difference between you and your competition may be all that is required. How do you pick up those extra strokes in golf? You hire a coach and you practice, practice, practice. It should be no different in sales. If you are not giving your sales team the opportunity to sharpen their sales skills, coaching them on the process, and allowing them to practice in a safe environment you are missing out on a huge opportunity.

Will your sales team be the Ernie Els of your competitive arena or the John Day? The choice is up to you!