Golf and the Principles of Sales Success Hole #5: Measure & Monitor by Donald Hahn, Hahn Sales Training January 2007
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(This is the fifth in a series of 18 articles on the relationship between Golf and the Principles of Sales Success. Read Hole #4: Course Management)

"Professional golfers & sales people are separated from amateurs by the knowledge & understanding of their ‘numbers’ - Are you an amateur or a professional?"

As you seek continuous improvement in your golf game, you come to realize that you must apply a rigorous approach to tracking your game. You will be able to track performance trends and identify your strengths, and more importantly, your performance gaps. Only when you are able to consciously assess your game, will you be able to consciously improve your competency level. A proficient golfer will track meaningful statistics such as:

• Fairways hit
• Greens in regulation
• # of putts
• Penalty strokes

Upon completion of a round, a consciously competent golfer will make notes (mental or otherwise) on what they must improve. This becomes the basis for the next visit to the driving range or putting green.

Likewise you cannot make real gains in your sales career without applying these same principles to your “sales game.” You must define, measure, and monitor the key indicators which underlie true sales success.

• Calls/appointments
• Appointments/proposals
• Proposals/sales
• Average revenue dollar per sale

Sales success improves as you personally take responsibility for the quantity and quality of the above activities. One must understand, however, that the game of sales, like golf, is primarily a mental game. You will find yourself investing time in those activities which we generally find more comfortable yet may not be the highest gain activities. We must, therefore, muster the courage and discipline to remain focused on high gain activities. If not, the less important, but more comfortable, activities will overtake the majority of our day.

We must be prepared to inspect our performance against this activity and honestly determine that which holds us back. The root cause of a lack of activity is generally not having the time, and making subliminal choices driven by our relative comfort in doing an activity. We must hold ourselves personally accountable to daily activity levels - but that is still not enough. Only when we understand the effect our fears and comfort level have on our activity, will we be able to control our own destiny. The connection between what you do, and how you feel about what you do is made through keeping a daily journal and determining the root cause of what actions we choose to take.

Read Hole #4: Course Management

Donald J. Hahn is President of Hahn & Associates, an award winning Sandler Sales Institute Training & Coaching Firm. He has enjoyed a successful 26 year sales and sales management career and has experience in sales and management training, as well as marketing, recruiting, customer service, business development, and mentoring solutions.

A Certified Franklin Covey Coach, past President of the Buffalo Niagara Sales & Marketing Executives, member of the American Society for Training & Development and the International Coaching Federation, Don provides the needed executive training and coaching to take clients to the next level - achieving increased profitability, improved customer satisfaction, maximum market penetration, and enhanced selling performance.

In addition, Don is the author and owner of a reliable interviewing tool entitled H.I.R.E, which improves sales candidate selection and is a guest speaker for the Keep It In the Fairway’s Northeast Region Seminars.

Email: dhahn@hahnsales.com
Company Profile: Hahn Sales Training
Company URL: http://www.hahn.sandler.com

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