What Sales Leaders Can Learn From Elite Sports

Ever wonder why some sales teams consistently outperform others?

AI is rapidly advancing, and while clever bots may soon handle outreach, strategic sellers remain irreplaceable - for now.

The biggest investment for a growth-oriented organisation is its sales team. Yet unlike products, processes, and systems, sellers aren't always predictable.

Or are they?

When your sellers directly drive profits and growth, you want predictability.?

Companies often double down on processes and applications that might actually hinder productivity. But what if there's a scientific way to forecast a seller's comfort and ability in executing critical sales motions like:

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• Handling objections and difficult conversations
• Presenting confidently to the C-level
• Persistently pursuing leads despite initial "no's"
• Selling new products versus relying on legacy offerings
• Exploring untapped opportunities
• Building relationships and networking

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Enter personality profiling.

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Major sports teams employ psychologists who use personality assessments to enhance team dynamics and performance coaching.

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In less than ten minutes, you can gather data that highlights a person's behavioural styles, enabling them to:

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• Gain better self-awareness of their strengths and limitations
• Understand others to adapt their approach accordingly
• Receive targeted coaching on areas needing improvement
• Adjust their natural style when facing stress or unfamiliar situations

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Personality profiling isn't a new concept.

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Your recruitment teams probably conducted these assessments before new hires joined, so you may already have the data.

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Yet, speaking with former colleagues and contacts in sales, it's clear that many of the world's largest sales organisations aren't strategically using these insights to improve individual and team performance.

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I like the DISC model because it's easy to remember, non-proprietary, and most people's strengths and limitations can be identified within its four categories:

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• Dominance: How you respond to challenges and problems (reflective vs. direct)
• Influence: How you engage with people and contacts (reserved vs. outgoing)
• Steadiness: How you deal with pace and consistency (dynamic vs. steady)
• Compliance: How you approach procedures and constraints (experimental vs. rigorous)

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Unlike traditional sales training, salespeople love learning about themselves.

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If you also love continuous learning like I do, identifying your potential limitations based on your personality type gives you the opportunity to proactively address your gaps and better align your role with your natural preferences.

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For instance:

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• If you're high in Steadiness and feel uncomfortable with challenging conversations, a business development role that requires constantly challenging a prospect's status quo might not be the best fit. Your strengths might be better suited to pre-sales or account management roles that value structure and specialisation.
• If you're low in Compliance (like me), you'd rather do almost anything than get bogged down in processes, product details, or administrative tasks. Such sellers should spend more time in front of customers, winning business, and get support for lower ROI tasks.
• If you're high in Dominance, you always keep the goal in sight. As a likely high performer, balancing your need for control with the need to collaborate will likely present opportunities for growth in active listening and communication.

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There are countless scenarios where understanding personalities and potential behaviour modifications can make a significant difference. So why operate blindly when you can use data to accelerate your organisational decisions?

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Elite athletes seek even the smallest improvements, using science to gain an edge.

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Many sellers I've met aren't operating at an elite level—but they could be.

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With a DISC report, you can help an under-performing seller improve their behaviours and numbers relatively quickly—or help them realise they're in the wrong role. Either way, it's beneficial for the business.

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Sales training has become commoditised, and its ROI can be hard to validate when approaches lack context specific to your business. So go deeper.

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If your sellers are one of your most valuable assets, help them identify their blind spots to maximise their potential and minimise the guesswork.

#SalesStrategies #Selling #DISC #PersonalityProfiling #BehaviouralScience #Diversity