Golf is Like Sales

I have been an avid golfer my whole life! I have played some of the best golf courses in the world. Through my career in the luxury golf community business, I always had access to the golf course located within the property. When I was a kid in Chagrin Falls I even caddied at the local golf club. Lugging all those HUGE bags around!

I have played some of the best golf courses in Scotland and Ireland. Last year I even played Pebble Beach. The thrill of a lifetime! Bucket list kind of stuff. Am I any good? Not that great, but I can hold my own when playing with better players. That's the thing about golf, you play against "old man par". Not the rest of your foursome! Unless maybe a little gambling is going on! The thing about golf, it’s a tough game. So is sales! Not that many people are really good at golf or sales. If they are really good, then they play all the time! Or they are professional salespeople who are flat out good!

Golf, like sales, is a game of recovery. What do I mean by that? You actually see it on TV when you watch a tournament. The pros hit the ball in the woods and their next shot is on the green. You meet with a customer and everything goes wrong. You say the wrong things, do the wrong things. Hey, you are in the woods. But then you focus and recover. All of a sudden you are on the green! Amazing!

A Lifetime to Master

Like any good skill, it takes a lifetime to master. You have to always be working on your craft! When things are going well and you feel like you can’t lose, you hit a clunker. Sound familiar? You are really in the grove and then you just can’t buy a sale!

There are many facets of the game. Driving, approach shots, and of course the SHORT GAME (closing)! You have to work on all of it. Don’t forget about the space between your ears!

In sales, you have got to keep your confidence strong. You have to study the basics all the time. Confidence comes from knowing your product inside and out. When you have complete product knowledge it will give you supreme confidence. You also know how to handle people! There is nothing like dealing with a complete expert and the customer knows it.

You have got to keep the space between your ears sound, your head! Listen to audiobooks. Audible is a great service! $14.95 a month and you get one free audiobook each month. Audible is part of Amazon! Read books to be an interesting person and focus on the right things! Read sales books. You don’t know it all. Nobody does. New things and new perspectives are always coming online.

Hire a coach to be the best you can be. There is a guy in the Hilton Head area who sells about $100,000,000 (real estate) every year and HE has a coach!! ALL the golfers have a coach! The game is too tough not to.

Even with all of the above, just like golf, you can struggle. It is never ending!

A Game Full of Bogies

Let’s face it, golf is full of bogies! Even the pros get bogies all the time. A long time ago I played golf at Rancho Park in Los Angeles. I couldn't believe what I was seeing on the 18th tee box. There was a bronze plaque that read exactly this:

"On Friday, January 6, 1961, The first day of the 35th L.A. Open
Arnold Palmer, voted Golfer of the Year, took a 12 on this hole. As an inspiration to all golfers, the L.A. Jr. Chamber of Commerce dedicated this monument on January 3, 1963."

"Palmer hit a fine drive. With his next four swings, he put 2 balls into the driving range, and two onto Patricia Ave. He hit his 5th 3-wood over the flag to the back of the green, and two-putted for a 12."

The famous Arnold Palmer Plaque at Rancho Park in LA

So, there you have it! One of the best of all time shoots a 12 at the LA Open!

In sales you are going to have your bogies. You have to keep moving. You can learn from missing sales you screwed up on. But if you can’t control certain things that made you miss the sale let it go and move on.

Birdies, Eagles and Double Eagles

If you are active in sales and you become good, you are going to get some sales that you just didn’t think would happen. I mean you gave it everything you had and then you walk away thinking it won’t work. Then BOOM!! They buy and they buy BIG! Getting an eagle is really great and it is rare for a guy not on the tour. That is two shots better than par. How about a double eagle? They say is it 500 times more difficult to get than a hole in one. It is three below par.

Keep grinding and pounding the rock and you will get some really big ones you never thought would happen. That’s why it is huge to give it all you have and stay focused! Stay positive!

Shoot for Par!

Do the basics! Show up on time, stay positive, know your inventory and close! Close strong when it is right, close soft when you have to.

The short game in golf is the finesse shot. This is like closing! It can get tricky. If you “blade” your golf ball about 10 feet from the cup for a par the ball will travel across the green into the sand trap on the other side of the green! Say the wrong thing when closing or close too soon and all is lost!!

So, you see what I mean? Golf is like selling!

Golf is Like Sales