Spinning & Sales (not Spin Selling)

I've had this crazy urge lately to break up the evening monotony...drive home, prep dinner, eat (in half the time it takes to make it), clean up (twice the time it takes to eat) and decompress from the day (tv, book, glass of wine, etc.) Day in and day out, it still felt like I wasn't improving myself and getting healthier, stronger, etc.

So I tried a spinning class and got hooked. Think of a small room with a bunch of stationary bikes, music videos being pumped out at full volume, colored lights, individual stats on a separate tv screen and an instructor feeding you a variety of directions. It's not easy but you feel great after one 50 minute session. So where am I going with this...

After a couple of back to back nights being completely drained, I realized the parallels to being successful in the sales profession:

• You are ultimately responsible for pushing yourself through the steep hill climbs (e.g. prospects that seem insurmountable), fast speeds (e.g. achieving full quota with only a week to go) and when you have nothing left (e.g. pushing your sales "cardio" - meetings, events, etc.).
• There is a lot of "noise" that will distract you from your goals but you can drown this out. For example, achieving your quota early in the month and coasting for the remainder, attending a networking happy hour and using it to hit your "beer quota", clicking on a non-business related or entertainment article (click bait) and on and on. Stay focused and don't let up - you'll feel great and achieve that natural euphoria when you zero in. Or at the very least, you'll receive a bigger commission check.
• Sometimes we need a coach, mentor or competitive peer to guide, challenge and support us. Its ridiculous to think that sales is an independently driven profession. Yes, you are ultimately responsible for achieving your own results but the best in the business have learned to absorb and assimilate best practices, teachings and strategies from some of the best in the business (e.g. John Smibert, Gretchen Gordon, Jill Konrath, Jeffrey Gitomer, Brian Tracy, etc).
• You are going to fall behind from time to time and that's okay. Sales is a unique and mixed bag of goal setting, activity building, strategy execution, relationship building and risk-taking. It's a challenge to hit on all these areas at one time but stay patient and build from one area to the next. If you do not have the will power to get back up, read the last bullet point.

Will I stay on this path of spinning? Who knows and who cares. Sometimes we just need that break away from monotony to get back on track - even if its only temporarily.

Next time, I'll share my thoughts on the parallels to cooking and how to achieve the best "recipe" for success.