4 Things That Athletes Can Teach Us About Selling Ourselves

4 Things That Athletes Can Teach Us About Selling Ourselves

I never understood why so many people say that they hate selling.

In my opinion, since the day we’re born we’re all constantly selling ourselves many times without even realizing it.

I mean think about it…

We sell to schools on why they should accept us.

We sell to our significant others on why they should be with us.

We even sell to our parents on why they should let go out to parties with our friends when we’re younger.

We might not always be selling something in an exchange for money, but we are still selling at the end of the day.

Being in the business of sales is all about building enough trust to communicate and convince somebody to do something that you want them to do.

Personally, I think some people look at the thought of persuading and convincing as immoral or shady and this is why people dislike selling besides the fact that it can be really hard to do if you don’t go about it the right way.

If you look at any athlete, more times than not they won’t have any professional work experience once they are done playing. But the one thing that they will have are skills that can be used in the real world and one of them is always the ability to sell themselves.

Athletes have to be able to market and sell themselves to advance in their athletic career. They have to be able to sell their ability on the playing field and their character and skills off of it as well.

I didn’t work a “real” job until I was almost in my mid 20’s, but the one thing that I knew I always knew I could do was convince people that I was the right person for anything.

Here are the 4 main things that all athletes can teach us about selling ourselves.

4 Things That Athletes Can Teach Us About Selling Ourselves

1. Be Confident In What You Know You Can Do — Athletes, especially the ones who make it to the professional level, know what they are good at and how to get that across to coaches or teams. They don’t try to be something that they aren’t and they understand that knowing what they do well is key to them having a consistent role. I think about former Chicago Bulls Forward Dennis Rodman when it comes to this. Dennis wasn’t the most talented basketball player and definitely didn’t wasn’t known as an offensive threat, but he rebounded and played defense every single night. He knew what he did well and always had a consistent role on every team he played on because of this. As it translates to business and life if you’re trying to convince someone on why you’re the best for the job, focus on what you’re best at and make those strengths shine. Having confidence in what you can do is very important in selling yourself because you’ll be comfortable communicating that more than anything else.
2. Never Focus On Your Weaknesses — Knowing your strengths is one thing, but knowing what you’re not good at is another. Self-awareness involves you not only knowing who you are but also who you aren’t. The great athletes know what they can’t do well, but the good thing is that it doesn’t even matter at the end of the day. Go all in on your strengths and make those apparent to others. Your weaknesses can improve, but don’t try to overcompensate for them. You gotta believe that your strengths and what you’re good at will be enough for whoever you’re selling to.
3. Be Patient & Persistent — Selling yourself rarely happens in one instance. You can’t just pitch a client and expect them to make a decision right then and there. You can’t just take a girl out on one date and expect her to want to be in a relationship with you. You can’t just send in one highlight tape to a team and expect them to sign you or give you a scholarship. You have to persistently provide value and give to the other side. You have to build that trust and rapport over time and remain patient enough for them to see that you’re the right one. Be persistent enough to know that selling takes work and consistency, but also patient enough to realize that work might not pay off or happen in a day or even a month.
4. Understand What The Other Side Wants — Having good intangibles, being coachable, listening, etc… All of these things are important to coaches and they will be important to employers or anyone else you’re trying to sell to in life. People want to know that they can work with you and that you have a great character at the end of the day. This comes with knowing what the person you’re selling to wants. What do they get at the end of the day? What problem do they need solving and how can you solve it? How can you prove to them that know you’ll be able to deliver what they need? You have to play the game within the game. You have to be able to clearly understand what the other person wants out of the deal and effectively give them that answer. Selling is knowing what the other side wants and solving that problem for them.

Selling Is Providing Value Plus Building Relationships

If you want to be great at selling yourself, focusing on trying to give first.

Give attention, give value, give energy and give effort.

Focus on doing things for other people and that within itself will build relationships for you.

We all know what want we want.

We all have places that we’re trying to get to in life.

What most people do is they put themselves and their needs first. That’s far from how you get what you want.

The irony is that when you give other people everything that they want, eventually you’ll get what you want.

The exchange of value has to always has to appear greater for the other side.

Sometimes we make selling harder than it has to be.

Give, build trust and when you get your chance, show people that you’re capable of delivering.

Whether you’re selling yourself in sports or in business, the formula doesn’t really change much.

Focus on that and watch how the opportunities come to you.

Malcolm Lemmons is a former professional athlete turned entrepreneur, author, and speaker. He is the founder of Players Point Agency and host of Players Point Podcast. He has been featured in the Huffington Post, TVOne, ABC & WJLA. To check out more from Malcolm, visit his website at www.malcolmlemmons.com or connect with him on Twitter & Instagram.

Want to see how I went from being a professional athlete to becoming an entrepreneur? Click the link to get your free ebook of The Pivot Game: https://eepurl.com/c7hiP9