Planning to hit the big number

At the beginning of a year, most sellers are given their territories and quotas. At this point, many have a mini panic attack and feel a little overwhelmed. However, they quickly compose themselves and start to build a plan. Below is the story from a successful Olympian with an approach and lessons I think can help us as we go through this process.

 

An Olympic legend

A few years ago I had the privilege of hearing Sir Matthew Pinsent share his personal story. During his rowing career, Sir Matthew won four consecutive Olympics and ten World Championships!

His first Olympic success came care of the 1992 Barcelona Games, where he and another Olympic legend, Sir Steve Redgrave, won the Coxless Pair. The story goes like this.

The day after the win, he sat down with his coach, who asked if he was up for doing it again. Still euphoric after the victory, he said; Absolutely, yes! The coach then slid a piece of paper across the table. On it was written a time. The time he believed would win gold in four years. It was measurably faster than what they had just achieved. Knowing how much effort and sacrifice was required, he struggled to see how they could improve by that much. But he trusted the coach and together they set about building a plan.

 

Going for gold

Their goal was clear and time-bound – Olympic success in four years. To achieve it, they knew what was required. Complete the 2,000m distance in the new time as set by the coach. This was the required result. And if they achieved it, it would lead to Gold.

Setting the goal was easy. Knowing the result took some calculated guesswork from the coach. But plotting a path to achieve it, is where the real work started. They needed to consider all the things they needed to do to achieve the result they wanted. To do this they created an acronym to govern their every waking moment – WWMTBGF – What Will Make The Boat Go Faster?

And a second one to check themselves to ensure they were not getting distracted – WIMTBGF – Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?

They built an exhaustive list with every possible thing that could influence making the boat go faster including; training schedule, equipment, diet, rest, injury protocol, sleep, etc. As new information came to them if it passed the WIMTBGF test it was added to the list and if not, it was removed. For four years they focused on nothing else but this. They focused on their performance! Performance was not limited to pre-race preparation and training but also race strategy and execution.

From 1992 to 1996 both Sir Matthew and Sir Steve executed their pre-race preparation performance plan and in the summer of 1996 at the Atlanta games, they executed a flawless race performance plan, which resulted in a second gold in the Coxless Pair. This strategy was applied for another eight years culminating in two more golds at both Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

 

Definitions to guide us

Performance – doing the things you need to do to get the results you want

Result – what you get once you have performed

 

Gold standards – lessons learned

• Set your goals
  • For example; Presents Club, top in your team, best rookie, promotion, etc.
• Know the or results you need to achieve the goal.
  • Typically guided by a quota.
  • Tip – don’t allow quota to be a rate-limiting factor. Aim higher!
• WWMTBGF – build a list of all the things you need to do and focus on
  • Pre-race performance is comparable to; knowledge, skill, and activities
  • Race day performance is comparable to; meeting performance and deal management
• WIMTBGF – avoid distractions.
  • Regularly ask if what you are doing will make your boat go faster?
• Execute your plan with Olympian like discipline.
  • Take the actions required to get the reaction desired
• Focus on Performance and the Results will take care of themselves!

After all … It’s easy if you know how!