Women's pro basketball and sales have a lot in common
Hoopla sells. The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is taking (selling) the country by storm. I'm courtside with my press pass at the Charlotte Sting and Los Angeles Sparks game. National interviews by coaches and sportscasters are taking place, with press from all over the country to report on the game.
I'm a basketball fan. A big basketball fan. Grew up watching the NBA in Philadelphia the Warriors and the 76'ers. Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, Guy Rogers, Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving. College basketball meant the Big Five (Temple, St. Joseph's, LaSalle, Villanova, and the University of Pennsylvania) in their glory days. But over the past few years I've lost some interest due to money and free agency in other words, the lack of team loyalty on the part of the players. Kind of like you.
Today is a new beginning. The WNBA is in its first season, but its marketing makes you feel like they've always been here, and always will be. I'm pumped for a great game.
The L.A. Sparks enter the court. Their star player Lisa Leslie is my favorite player in the league, so I already have a loyalty issue since they're playing my Charlotte team. I make a pre-game rooting decision: I hope Lisa has a good game, but I hope Charlotte beats them bad.
Her warm-ups shooting layups, dribbling drills, passing all were in perfect form, with perfect follow-through. Salespeople could take a great lesson from this, and make more sales than they could imagine if they warmed-up before the sale by practicing the fundamentals and then executed them perfectly. What a concept.
The players are all smiling and working hard during their warm-ups. They seem to love their jobs. What a concept.
Now the player introductions: the Sting get darkness, big music and spotlights, and the crowd of 8,975 goes wild.
L.A. draws first blood on a layup. Charlotte misses a jumper, gets a loose ball and makes a layup. Then Lisa Leslie makes two reverse layups in a row and Charlotte counters with a three. The jumpers continue to be missed, but the layups continue to fall in. Layups win basketball games, so don't miss them. What a concept.
The crowd clearly belongs to the Sting. Vicky Bullett of the Sting is playing both ends of the court rebounds and layups. The fans are going crazy. Both teams playing tough defense and making more layups.
Why am I loving this game so much? Why am I so sold?
Excellent team play.
No sports crybabies.
Great player work ethic.
Fundamental basketball play executed to perfection.
Sportsmanship (or should I say sportspersonship), with no arguing or technical fouls.
Excellent basketball game. Players playing their hearts out because they love the game, and seem happy just to be playing.
Fun to watch.
How does the WNBA give you a sales lesson you can win with? Warm-ups, fundamentals, shooting layups, great marketing, lots of fanfare, happy people, great work ethic is this basketball or sales? Both.
Charlotte player misses an open layup. Lisa Leslie answers with a four-foot jumper inadvertently bumps a Charlotte player hard and stops to see if she is O.K. That's why I'm sold on this game. More sportsmanship, less egotists. More sport focus, less money focus. Another layup. Sparks 31, Sting 29.
Under a minute left. Sting lay-up. Sparks miss a three. Another. Sting make a lay-up at the buzzer a fitting end. Sting 78, Sparks 66. All the players are shaking hands and congratulating each other in a display of old-fashioned good sportsmanship. Of course the Sting are a bit happier.
Charlotte won the game because they executed the fundamentals better, and made more layups. And isn't that how we all succeed in the world of business? The Los Angeles team threw up wild three pointers at the end of the game going for a win, kind of like salespeople at the end of the month trying to make quota because they missed their layup sales at the beginning of the month.
I'm the locker room after the game my first time in a locker room with a press pass. What should I ask the players? "Why are you doing this?" Same answer from every athlete I spoke with in both locker rooms: "I love the game. I love to play."
Are you in love with what you do? If you do, it's a better bet you'll be a winner. Watching these women will be an inspiration to make sure you do.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. Inquires should be e-mailed to salesman@gitomer.com or faxed to the Business Journal at (48-22) 646-0576.
