There have been a lot of early mornings for me recently to watch the rugby world cup games. As I’ve been watching it recently I’ve tried to think how we as B2B lead generation professionals can learn from these very successful teams. One thing that amazes me is just how many different coaches and trainers there are involved in getting the players ready for this tournament.
Defensive coaches, attacking coaches, tackling coaches, scrum coaches, nutritionists, psychologist, personal trainers, kicking coaches, eyesight coaches, yoga, spiritualists, masseurs etc. etc. It seems like the professional sportsperson has a different coach for every single aspect of their sport.
The best sports people are constantly reviewing their performance across their whole job in minute detail. They are constantly re-evaluating and examining how they can learn, new techniques, their teammates and competitors techniques as well as ensuring they are in peak mental condition to be motivated and hungry for success.
Have you ever thought that maybe this is why they are the best? Yes they are naturally talented, but to be the best they have had to constantly improve their technique and work hard.
I was running a B2B telemarketing review and training course for a client recently, there was one member of the team who had been there for a few months who regularly smashed his sales targets. There were also a couple of members who had been there for a few years and every month met their targets but no more.
As soon as I started I was met with negativity and resistance for the longest serving 2 members. It wasn’t long before the comments of we’ve been doing this for years we know what to do, what a waste of money this coaching is why couldn’t they just give us a bonus and we don’t need to be here as we always hit targets, training is for new staff.
This is an attitude that certainly doesn’t surprise me and one that I have seen so often. Lead generation, or in fact any element of a job is no different to a sport, if you work hard, evaluate what you are doing and get regular coaching everybody will improve their results.
One issue is that many companies allow their best performing lead generation staff to pretty much do whatever they want as long as they deliver and training is seen as something you need when you are failing or not delivering.
Training should be viewed as a vital component of success as it is in rugby or any modern sport.
Everybody should see the benefits of training and coaching. It should be an ongoing element of your team’s success if you want to get the best results.