Olympians and Sales Athletes

Inspired, Motivated and Driven to be the Best

Here we are, post 2012 Summer Olympic Games. For 17 days, more than 219 million Americans watched over 5,535 hours of Games. From the opening ceremony, to 26 sports with 36 disciplines and about 300 events, we follow the athletes through the peaks and valleys of their dreams coming true. Congratulations to the United States with 46 Gold, 29 Silver, and 29 Bronze metals!

Every four years these international sensational athletes compete to be the best. To make it to the next Olympics, they must undergo serious training and more competitions just to qualify. I trained for and ran the Chicago Half Marathon… emphasis on the half. That was the most challenging 2 hours of my life and I chuckle at myself when the Olympic full marathoners come in just a few seconds over 2 hours. I respect and admire these athletes and I hope they inspire us all, they certainly inspire me.

Some of us will be inspired to try a new sport, push for those extra laps, or complete a full marathon. Maybe, some of us will see a different perspective and be inspired to work harder toward our goals, like me with my professional goals. Many of us will not be making it to the Olympics but I’m confident most of us have competed in one fashion or another. For those of us in the Sales industry, we compete every day. We may not be Olympians but I see us as Sales Athletes.

I work with a team so my overall goal impacts my team’s success. In order to do so, it will take me to perform well and surpass personal goals. Just like the Olympic teams, there must be camaraderie for healthy competition between teammates to reach #1. Even as sales athletes, there’s training, exercise, long days, pains, and glory but living through every detail is what makes the stronger athlete and in the end a stronger team. So as reps, we can ask ourselves, “What sort of sales athlete am I?” For Sales managers, you can ask, “What sort of athletes are on my sales team?”

At the end of the day, what is going to get us to #1? Let’s get training!