Sales Training Article: Nick Saban and Sales

By Gary Walker, EVP of Channel Sales & Operations, CustomerCentric Selling® – The Sales Training Company

The college football season kicked off last week. Reigning national champion, the Alabama Crimson Tide, began right where they left off last season with a convincing 52 to 6 win over the University of Southern California.

A while ago, CBS 60 Minutes did a segment on Alabama football coach Nick Saban. He’s one of the best coaches in college football, having now won four BCS championships with Alabama in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015, and another with LSU in 2003.The segment is under fourteen minutes long. If you have the time, and you’re a sales person or sales leader, I think it is worth watching. There are so many lessons in this brief segment.

Most notably to me is that he attributes his team’s success to following and executing what he calls a football process. He insists his players not look at the scoreboard or worry about winning, but instead to focus on executing their individual assignments, perfecting their skills, and each offensive play that allows them to move the ball systematically, yard by yard down the field, and ultimately score. Now, they don’t sit around all week and decide they will go play a game on Saturday. When they are not playing an actual game they are practicing; about five (5) days of practice prior to the actual game. They practice their process for hours on a daily basis. That is the Alabama football process and it achieves the desired results.

So why is that notable to me? CustomerCentric Selling® is a sales process. If you are a salesperson and will continually focus on understanding, practicing and mastering the sales process, perfecting your sales skills, and moving the opportunity systematically through the company’s sales process, you will ultimately WIN. If you are a leader of salespeople, if you drive the execution of the sales process, you’ll drive the required revenue. It will require skill practice and opportunity coaching on a daily basis. You will help your salespeople prepare to win.

What practice do you have scheduled for your team?

Take a look at the sales training workshops available to you.