Don’t Look at the Scoreboard
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“Play your game and your plan. Don’t look at the scoreboard.”
– Coach John Wooden
Head Coach, UCLA Men’s Basketball
(October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010)
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he marches to the beat of a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.”
– Henry David Thoreau
American Naturalist, Philosopher and Author
(1817 – 1862)
There’s a Tao (a Way) of Basketball. Coach Wooden, in teaching his teams to play winning ball, stressed the idea of paying attention to what was required to win. Focus on playing your game, this minute, all the time. Taking time out to look at the scoreboard splits attention. One’s play, attitude and intensity change as the score goes up and down. Staying focused on the court and playing your consistent best game right ’til the last second, is the best chance for a win.
There’s a Tao (a Way) of Selling. It has a lot to do with helping people decide what’s right, what’s required and then encouraging them to get on with it. Play your game, start first, begin putting points on the board, and be the individual that everyone else reacts to and is forced to follow.
Nobody “markets” their way to success. Nobody “consults” their way to success. Nobody “legislates” their way to success. Cutting the budget is a singularly bad way to achieve success. Face it! When the going gets tough, you’ve got to get on the road and SELL!
It’s harder when there’s turbulence and confusion. The news doesn’t help you. Washington doesn’t help. The economy doesn’t help. And the mass of people sitting and “wondering” doesn’t help. So don’t take surveys. Your attitude (and that of your clients and customers) changes as the market goes up and down. So don’t wait for the world to get it. Don’t wait for the government to figure it out. Don’t wait for orders. Don’t look at the scoreboard or the odometer or the sales reports. Figure out what’s right, get out there and wake people up. Get them off the sidelines and into action!
This isn’t revolutionary or even “hard” to figure out, it’s “classic.”
Buy low, sell high! When everyone else is sitting, STAND! When everyone else is doing nothing, ACT! Leaders ACT first. And you can’t do it effectively while looking over your shoulder at the score. Don’t find yourself out there endlessly awaiting the perfect moment, do it now!
So what’s the problem? Why aren’t you out there already? Well, we each have a “Normative Reflex” or an “Envelope,” which makes us intimately aware of what others are doing, thinking and feeling. Helps us fly in formation, stick with the herd, keep our heads down when the teacher’s looking. Mostly, it keeps us safe and “in line.” After all, there’s a risk in standing out. That may be True. Hmm… But there’s a bigger risk in doing nothing. Nobody ever won anything without taking a risk and shouldering the expense.
Listen carefully. It’s far away and unique. Put aside the risks, forget about your fears. It’s a win, calling for you. The powerful sound of inspiration, leadership and courage. It’s your music, March!
Sell something!
Applications
1. Individually
What are the others at the office doing? What are the neighbors thinking? What is the President doing? Enough already! While you’re seeking to decide which way the prevailing winds are blowing, someone is already in action, and you’re about to become a footnote. Sure, think it through, build a plan. But get in there and go to work before the opportunity (and your youth) vanish!
2. At Home
Nowhere is peer pressure more telling and compelling than for teens and their families. But the unspoken question that clarifies the confusion of adolescence is, “Are you here on this planet, at this moment, for this lifetime, in order to be exactly like everyone else? Or to discover and walk your unique (perhaps labyrinthine) path? To make your unique contribution?”
3. At the Office
What’s John, (my office competitor) doing? What is the company competitor doing? What’s the industry leader doing? What does the Boss think? Where’s the Market Metrics report? Right, there is a staggering amount of information out there! And a staggering number of choices and flavors of action. But the action not taken, can never amount to a win. Plan, then work the plan, and keep working the plan. And keep reminding your clients, and their clients that correct action, endlessly repeated, is one of the defining characteristics of winning people and winning organizations. Act. Counsel. Serve. Sell!
You can find out the score when the game is over.
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