How Skill Development Gets You To The Championship

The “March Madness” basketball tournament, formally known as the NCAA Mens/Womens Basketball Championship, is the pinnacle showcase for skill mastery in the collegiate basketball world. This year, my alma mater, the Aztecs of San Diego State University (SDSU), had a spectacular run-up to the championship match.  

What The Aztecs did so well is similar to the work we do with our customers’ sales teams, albeit in a different “business setting.” Coach Brian Dutcher of SDSU has refined and reinforced their process (sports leaders will often call it a system), relied on tools, committed to Coaching and focused on continuous skill improvement.  

For his team, those skills include bouncing and shooting a ball, playing defense, and getting rebounds. For the sales teams we work with, the key skills are proactively developing new business, identifying business objectives, establishing value, accessing key players, managing the buying process, and (of course) negotiating and closing. 

How are you getting better today? Are your sales leaders doing everything they can do to ensure that all customer-facing roles have the skills they need to win? Don’t wait to improve—the competition sure won’t.