Nfinity Athletic’s Post

What are your thoughts on "competition" / competing? Someone in "my space" recently posted a controversial topic and I happened to agree with them and commented as such in support. Then someone else pointed out that it might be bad form as the OP is my "competition" (looking like I was trying to "steal" their potential customers) Many people in my space comment on my posts, which I applaud and engage with - but perhaps a number of them/you aren't because they're afraid it might look bad and/or hurt my feelings??? Just for clarity, I ASSURE YOU ALL, it won't. I embrace competition - a rising tide lifts all boats. I know I'm not for everyone... but I'd rather have a healthy "ecosystem" and a 50/50 share of 100 than a 100% share of 10.... Plus, I have the opportunity to learn and fine-tune! Ferrari and McLaren compete publicly on the F1 circuit - what makes people on LinkedIn any different??? In my view, if a person won't engage with me - then they're not really my competition.... (arrogance???) Am I wrong? Dr. Alexander Hoeppel, Alice Shikina, Andreas Winheller, Andrew Bailey MBA Pricing and Negotiation specialist, Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Bill Garcia, Erich Rifenburgh, M.B.A, Fergus Graham, Gary Luefschuetz, Gerry Parran, MBA, Giuseppe Conti, Jared Curhan, Jean-Nicolas Reyt, John Dieffenbach, Keld Jensen, Lisanne C. Bogle CPSM, C.P.M., Lousin Mehrabi, Patrick J. Griffin, MBA, Patrick Tinney, Philip Brown, Remi Smolinski, Shane Ray Martin, Tony Anagor, Tony Shepherd, Vladimir Bushin tagging Fred Copestake as both the initiator of the OP and "honorary" negotiation trainer ;)

Why sales isn’t just a numbers game? 🏀 Let’s look at Steph Curry, for example, a 3-point champion. Imagine if Steph said, “Oh, basketball is just a numbers game, just shoot as many threes as you can and eventually you will hit one.” He would never have made it to the NBA with that mindset. But now he knows, it is a skills game. So, every day he is focused on his technique, he is focused on his wrist movements, his hand movements, how he is dribbling. He is focused on his technique every day to get better at the skill and because of that he gets paid millions of dollars. I am focused on quality of each conversation and trying to make it so good so the prospect just can’t say no. Agree or disagree? 🤔 #Sales #SkillsGame #ConversationQuality

Practice….Train….Practice….Train Almost every level of sports practice and train. Pros practice, college practice, K-12 practice. Hell, my son is 5 years old and learning to play hockey. He practices every week. The only leagues that I'm aware of that don't practice are rec leagues and beer leagues. When I show up to some beer league hockey game for myself or a rec league basketball game, I am relying on skills I learned years ago to hopefully get me a goal or basket. I’m rusty. I’m out of touch. Sales isn’t a rec league or beer league. We are Sales Professionals and we need to constantly train and practice no matter how many cars you’ve sold and how long you’ve been in the business. Why do some sales associates feel like they don’t need to practice. Why do they feel like they can just wing it when they are with a customer. A former Manager of mine once told me ‘just practice those word tracks with customers. You may screw some up and mess the deal up, but it will help you learn for the next one’. Thankfully I did not pay attention to that awful advise. We don’t show up every day to sell cars. We show up to provide great buying experiences for our customers and help them throughout their buying process. When we have a customer in front of us, that is NOT the time to practice. That is game time. If we choose to practice with our customers we are not only doing ourselves a disservice, but more importantly we are failing our customers. #cardealership #sales #salestraining #firstimpressions #carsales #automotive #personalbranding #chevrolet #chevy

One of the biggest mistakes I made early on in leadership was not getting the entire sales team aligned on a consistent sales process. They'd come in successful from their prior roles so I'd let them go do what I thought they did best. Some did well. But most struggled. The solve? I started training all new hires and existing reps on ONE process that we ALL followed as a baseline. They'd be able to adjust and adapt to fit them. But this allowed CONSISTENCY and focus. We all now had the same fundamentals. And we coached off the same fundamentals just like any top sports team. The result? We ended up breaking sales records and sending more people to President's Club the following year than ever before and winning "Comeback Team of the Year." This is the power of getting a team 100% aligned on one core process. 💪🏼

Happy weekend to all! I’m starting it doing one of the things I love the most: being there for my daughter and enjoying a field hockey game. This has been and incredible week. One of those weeks that I’m seeing that all the effort that I have been doing starts to pay off. And motivates me to keep moving forward and putting myself out here. As I mentioned frequently Marketing and Sales involves a lot of consistency. And relationships are all that matters. And every day I’m more convinced of that. #marketingstrategy #worklifebalance

Goal Setting with the Salesteam today over a few coffees. 🏢 Company goals and systems of how to achieve these goals. 👨🏼💻 Individual work goals on how to improve. 🏡 Personal goals We set a task for our team to create and present their own work and personal goals for 2024. One of the most positive meetings we have had as a team and one that shows the leaders we have within our business. My Personal Goals for 2024: 🏃♂️ Run 1,000km 📖 Read 10 books (1st book Atomic Habits) ⛳️ Break 80 at golf. Each Goal has to have a system to enable us to achieve that goal. So I’ll be leaving my driver in the bag 🏌🏻♂️ and hoping to find a book to fix my slice. #goals2024 #goalsetting #teambuilding #atomichabits #running #golflife #readingchallenge #starbucks

What do you think? Have you noticed the similarities between sports and sales? Many quotes made by sportspeople apply to sales as well. Both fields require a competitive mindset, resilience, and the ability to bounce back from failures. Sales professionals are constantly striving for their next win, just like athletes. What's your take on this? Is sales a game? Share your thoughts below. #sales #sports #thoughtoftheday

**Comparing Enterprise Sales to Professional Sport: The Struggles** We last spoke about the highs of success when it comes to Sales and Sport. However, it's not just about the triumphs. The discipline, resilience, and teamwork needed in sports also come with their fair share of struggles, and the same is true for sales. In sports, injuries, setbacks, and tough losses can be incredibly demoralizing. In sales, missed targets, tough negotiations, and market fluctuations can be equally challenging. The constant pressure to perform can lead to burnout and stress in both arenas. Yet, it's these very struggles that build character and strength. Pushing through the tough times, whether it's on the field or in the boardroom, is what makes the victories so sweet. Learning to cope with failure, stay motivated, and keep pushing forward is essential. Whether I'm working to close a major deal or fighting back from a setback on the field, the journey is filled with highs and lows. Check out the attached photo for a glimpse on missing out on a victory at the final hurdle. #sales #sports #cricket #enterprisesales #accountexecutive #sdr #athlete

Big message today, have confidence in what you are doing (and why) but makes sure how you are doing things is right, so says Jeffrey Gitomer. Don't attribute failure to a personal trait or characteristic, sometimes you can be brilliant and not win (in sales that counts as a failure). In sales as in sports there is always another game along in a minute and once again you can build on the things you did well last time and improve on those we could have ben better at. Today is a day for every #salesleader to reflect on the plan we have for executing our next big deal (all facets). We know if we nail every element we will probably win - so let's do that! #jeffreygitomer #salesleadership #positivemindset

When you’re part of a sales team, self-awareness is just as important as your ability to sell, or communicate, or build new relationships. Let me explain. This weekend, I was on a team of three at a CrossFit competition. Years ago, I spent a lot of time on strength work. I became more of a strength-dominant athlete in the sport. But after some nagging injuries, I haven’t been able to lift heavy in quite a while. So when a strength event came up during this weekend’s competition, I could either: 1) Fuel my ego and put a weight on the bar that may be too much for my current strength level. 2) Be super realistic with where I’m at right now, and rely on my two teammates to take on the heavier numbers. I chose Option #2. And it paid off. We won the event. If I tried to fuel my ego and missed my portion of the lift, it would’ve brought our team to last place in the event. By stepping back, I was able to help my team. Even if it wasn’t in the way I would’ve liked. Ideally I’d want to put more weight on the bar and contribute to the same level of my teammates. But the ideal doesn’t hold up in competition. Competition requires us to do whatever it takes to get the job done. And so does collaboration. Especially on sales teams. Your team members have different abilities for a reason. So lean into those differences. Be realistic about blind spots. And set your team up for success. Humbly. Without the need to fuel egos. Because nothing kills sales quicker than putting ego above our customers and team members. #raiseyourrevenue #sandler #sales #growth