Sales, inspired by sport

How watching the 2022 winter Olympics can help get your sales strategy off the ground running

After a weird couple of years, it’s nice to feel a bit more normality with the excitement of the winter Olympics in Beijing. We’ve been enjoying watching the speed, agility, and endurance these athletes have demonstrated, and it’s got us thinking about how similar sport is to sales…

Striking a balance between strategy and flexibility

High performing athletes in situations like manoeuvring fast-paced skiing slopes, performing carefully constructed ice skating routines and playing calculated curling matches have to concentrate their full focus on their strategy whilst also responding to the conditions of the game. Icy winter conditions and unexpected hurdles or changes to their environment mean they have to find a balance between relying on their tried-and-tested strategy and being responsive to whatever may come at them.

This is the same in lead generation, which requires developing and nurturing an effective strategy as well as being constantly aware of how the market may be evolving. We can identify a winning strategy for generating leads and recreate that for different markets, but we also need to always be conscious of changes in industries and business. This is why our pandemic sales relief packages were a vital adaptation to fit into the ‘new normal’ we found ourselves in over the last couple of years.

Team players

Not only does being on a team require trust and coordination – it also needs team spirit! It’s been so inspiring to see each country’s Olympic teams cheering each other on and encouraging other athletes in their challenges. Sales teams that celebrate wins and work cohesively to keep spirits high are more likely to succeed, so take inspiration from the uplifting team spirit you can see in the Olympics!

A global gathering

After we’ve experienced so much division throughout the pandemic, both physically and politically, it’s encouraging to see so many countries gathering together and bonding over sport. At Research Runner, we also work globally with companies around the world to help them grow by winning leads.

How has watching the Olympics inspired your approach to business? We’d love to hear your thoughts on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter!