The difference between success and failure is one degree.
In baseball, that’s the difference between a home run, where
a player rounds the bases to the cheers of the crowd, and a collective groan
from a pop fly. A baseball player has to hit the ball with a launch angle of 25
degrees to 30 degrees in order to get it roughly 400 feet over the outfield
wall. If any one of the multiple mechanical, and mental, processes required is
not properly adjusted when the player swings the bat, and he is outside that
range by one degree, he will fail.
The ability to make small adjustments impacts our success in
business as well. And the most fundamental and impactful adjustment we can make
is our attitude.
William James, the philosopher, educator and scientist, considered
the father of American psychology, wrote: “The greatest revolution of our
generation is the discovery that human beings, by challenging the inner
attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”
That’s a fancy-pants way of saying, “You change your attitude,
you change your life.”
When selling services to a client, that shift in attitude
can be as simple as asking yourself, “What are we trying to do in this pursuit?”
Win? Sell? Persuade? How do you talk to your team about your mission as you
craft your proposal?
Try “help.”
When you change your attitude that your goal is to help the
client solve its problems, rather than sell the client your product or service,
it changes your discussions from “you and us” to “we.” You start to focus on
collaboration, and what both of you can do together. The client gets the sense
that you have their best interests in mind first, and yours second. And that
builds trust. And trust sells deals.
Here’s a great example of a small shift to start: stop
calling it the “war room.” Almost every deal team I work with refers to the
conference room where everyone on the team gathers to work on the deal as the “war
room.” And I always challenge that term. “Why is this a ‘war’ room? Are we
fighting with our client?” Change the team’s attitude: it’s the “deal” room,
the “value generation” room, or maybe the “solution” room.
Yes, it’s a minor change. And there are so many more to
discuss. But to be successful selling in this highly-competitive world, we
constantly have to self-assess and adjust. The small changes, when you’re
getting ready to swing, will impact your ability to achieve success 400 feet
away.
