Don’t Create a Culture of Average, Move The Average Up!
As a 2009 Tedster I have several favorite talks. This one is now on the list.
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Where we explore the approach and advice from a great golf coach and similarities to being a great sales coach.
Jim Flick was one of the golf world’s greatest instructors ever. Period, exclamation point. Unfortunately, he left our planet recently at the ripe old age of 82. No doubt this man transitioned to heaven with the greatest of ease. A true gentleman, with a keen eye for the golf swing who helped 100’s if not 1000’s of students improve their enjoyment of the game. He also guided golf greats like Nicklaus and Lehman to many wins. Mr. Flick was as humble as they come, he always credited others for his thinking on the game. He was quick to tell you how fond he was of Bob Toski’s thinking on the golf swing.
My personal experience with Jim was watching him as he instructed my son Ryan. He always called me Mr. John with that sweet sounding southern drawl. I’m told he did the same with everyone else. Little did Ryan or Jim know that my delight in watching a lesson was grounded in knowing that I was watching one of the world’s greatest coaches at work. It really didn’t matter about the results from the lessons for Ryan, I knew that would be what it would be. What was magical was listening to Mr. Flick’s approach to coaching – the metaphor rich visualization created by his words as he treated a teenaged golfer so respectfully it was as though he was instructing the next Tiger Woods. Always encouraging with kind words or correcting with a question not a statement. And then modeling what he meant. This is a skill many coaches don’t possess.
So how does this apply to the world of sales and sales coaching? There are certain people who make it easy for you to accept their feedback. Maybe its the way they ask you questions, or the analogies and the vivid verbal pictures they paint with words, but Jim Flick had the knack. Never demeaning and always a true story or two of golf legends examples to store his lesson into the mental hard drive.
To this day, I cannot stand over a golf ball and not think of Jim Flick. What am I doing filling my mind with so many thoughts at address? Fact is, for me his simple words of wisdom seem to correct more potential errors versus create potential defects. The words are “Uncomfortably close Mr. John – uncomfortably close.” What did he mean by that? It has an echo to a phrase my Dad always told us kids. “Get closer to your work.” This was usually applied while doing a project for him like raking leaves and getting encouragement to move the bushel basket closer to the leaf pile. Both instructions had the same intent. By being closer to the ball or closer to the leaves there was less room for error, wasted shots or wasted effort picking up leaves you had already picked up once before.
So, what attributes should sales coaches borrow from Mr. Flick’s world-renowned coaching methods?
Here are just a few.
Should sales coaches tell there reps to get closer to their work? Should they become uncomfortably close to a prospects business? You bet! The value you provide a customer isn’t knowing your product or service. But if you get close to their business and show them how your offering speeds the probability of meeting their goals you win more deals. You can’t do that without getting uncomfortably close to their company, your contacts within and close to the value you bring to them.
I will remember Mr. Jim Flick fondly and his gentlemanly ways. Even though I wasn’t his student – I was his student. If that makes sense. Thanks Mr. Jim.
With utmost respect,
Mr. John
ABOVE Quota 