What Ted Lasso can teach you about sales and sales leadership.
I have a confession. I am hooked on Ted…Ted Lasso. Ted Lasso* is an award-wining comedy on AppleTV+. The series follows an American football coach, Ted Lasso, who is hired to coach an English premier league soccer team. One episode (The Diamond Dogs) featured a scene that teaches an important life lesson. As so often happens, life lessons apply to sales.
The scene opens with Ted playing darts against the insufferable Rupert. The two had made a highly personal bet, and now Rubert has the upper hand. Ted needs three great throws to win. Here is how the scene plays out*.
What does this have to do with sales? Everything!
If you would you like to:
- Shorten your sales cycle.
- Significantly improve your win rate.
- Ensure that important deals close.
- Retain key customers.
Then get curious. Forget everything you know about products and your company. Your internal narratives and judgments are filled with bias that prevents you from learning about your customer’s business and the significant issues they face.
The best discovery doesn’t sound like discovery. It sounds like a friend asking questions throughout a conversation. When you do that, you will :
- Ask enough questions.
- Ask great questions.
- Ask tough questions.
If you’d like to sell more, follow Walt Whitman’s advice, “Be curious, not judgmental.”
Jim Peduto is the Managing Partner and the co-founder of Knowledgeworx, LLC. Jim combines practical insight and big data to help CEOs and owners transform their businesses.
*Note: Ted Lasso is rated TV-MA for those who may want to screen before watching with families and young children