By Bob Miller
MONROEVILLE, ALABAMA, Sept. 11, 2019 — What a fantastic US Open tennis tournament in New York City earlier this month.
Serena Williams was in the finals going for her 24th major. She played against Bianca Andreescu from Canada. What a match! Bianca is only 19 and the first woman from Canada to win the U.S. Open. She beat Serena 6-3 7-5.
Bianca had that drive to win no matter what. She was mentally tougher and physically stronger then Serena. She credits her mental toughness on visualization. When she was 15 years old, she won the prestigious Orange Bowl Tennis Tournament in Miami. She wrote herself a fake check, pretending to win the US Open. How prophetic.
In tennis you must have a positive mental attitude, grit, and a mindset that you need to figure things out by yourself. Bianca has that can-do attitude and is very hungry to be the best.
As a salesperson, when you are working in the field, seeing your clients, do you have that hunger to be the best? Do you strive to figure out how you can make the sale? Do you strategize and try to work on new approaches? Are you mentally tough when things don’t go your way? Do you look at setbacks as a means to the end?
Plan your day, visualize it going well, and then do it! Sports is a great platform to show what it takes to be the best, to show how hard you need to work to set yourself apart. Serena is great and has been for a long time, however, she is going to have to step it up to another level to beat the young ladies coming up.
The men’s competition was all drama. It was Rafael Nadal against Daniil Medvedev.
The match lasted 4 hours 52 minutes – an exhausting amount of time where two men fought their hearts out to win. They scratched, clawed and did whatever they could to become champion. They played five sets, and the scores were 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4. Rafael Nadal emerged the winner — his 19th major title, an amazing accomplishment! It puts him one behind Roger Federer.
The two men changed strategies multiple times. They served hard, they served easy, they dropped shot one another, they came to the net, they lobbed; it was the ultimate test regarding strategy. Heck, I was exhausted just watching.
This kind of attitude is available to us all. Do you want to be the best? Are you interested in making the sacrifices? Do you have the discipline to prepare your call pattern before you go out for the week? Are you focused? Do you make phone calls to set yourself up to make successful appointments?
Tennis is a great test of how to figure out things yourself, how to be self disciplined, and how to finish. Medvedev is only 23 and he had to learn how to act and perform well. He seemed to have a quick temper in some of his earlier matches and didn’t act appropriately. However, during the course of the tournament, he grew up before our eyes. His attitude improved; he apologized for his actions; and put on an awesome display of tennis. He definitely pushed Nadal to his limits, and to his credit, Nadal persevered to win.
This correlates to field sales. As a rep, you are by yourself most of the day. You have to be quick on your feet, and figure out challenges in the moment. Things don’t always go your way, and you sometimes you don’t meet the nicest people. But you keep going and focus on what needs to be done.
Football, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse are all team sports, and they are great! But tennis and golf are individual sports, which call for insight, a high level of strategy, and individual execution to attain results. It’s just you.
Do the right thing out in business. Challenge yourself. Prepare to be successful. Go beyond what is expected. Be passionate about your work, and you will achieve whatever it is that you visualize.
Bob Miller is executive vice president of Gericare Medical Supply,