Sales Lessons from the Game of Chess
As we all know, chess is a board game played between two people, and it is not just a recreational game; competition is highly involved as well. As a business-oriented person who is aiming for a greater height, there are vital lessons that you can learn from this game. Here are three sales lessons from chess that we think can make “your game” even better.
Think ahead
For practical purposes, you need to take your time out and take part in the game with a highly intellectual person, and you will observe that the game requires you to think smart and ahead of your opponent. While at the game, you observe that if you want to be the winner at the end; you need to think of the next move of your opponent; you can’t just be thinking of the present alone. This applies to sales in every business.
If you desire to be the best at what you do, you need to be calculative and think long-term; you need strategies that will take you far and ahead. There are dangers involved when salespeople refuse to plan, just like in chess: if you cannot plan ahead of your opponent, you lose the game to the person. You need to see the person each move even before they make it; that is the only way you can win.
Sales planning is a skill that every businessperson must acquire; it is your ability to set a goal or target that needs to be achieved. There will also be a need for you to introduce a strategy that will make the goal achievable. There will be a need for you to break the procedure down into a step-by-step process for clarity.
Before you attempt to set a sales goal or target, you must have settled down to evaluate the product’s present performance comprehensively. It would be best to consider the resources available before making any plan because what you have is what will bring you what you desire or want.
Evaluate current situation
You cannot create strategies for resources that are not available. To be able to plan ahead you need to look at the current board situation. Therefore, you can also consider assigning different roles and responsibilities to various sales representatives, considering their strength and capability and this is another sales lessons from chess.
Planning requires deep thought, and nothing should be done in life without proper planning; you need to settle down and dedicate time to thinking things through. While setting your goals, don’t forget to plan for “what if’s” you must have another strategy if the initial plan doesn’t turn out as expected, just the exact way you have a backup plan while at the chess game. Your opponent may not take the step you expect him to take; you need to have a plan for otherwise.
When you plan, it will help you see potential risks, and you can avoid them beforehand. There are some mistakes that, if you don’t see it coming, it may lead to a heavy negative impact on your business, it may lead to a considerable loss; when such happens, the business may need to fold up. Cash flow keeps a business going, it is the oxygen of every business or establishment, and every salesperson aims to obtain profit.
If your business sale is not where you desire it to be at the moment, the key to taking it where you want is in your hands; all you need to do is recognize what you need to achieve it. Sales planning is vital because it helps you understand who you are offering your product or services to; if you don’t know your consumers, there will be difficulty recognizing the strategy for you to devise.
Keep an eye on the constraints
One of the main constraints in chess is time with different time limits at each level: blitz, local, international. Additionally, there are limits on the number of moves available in a set amount of time before the “time runs out”. Similarly, your business has constraints that need to be taken into account.
When making your plans, you need to consider your finance. What is your budget? It would be best to integrate your laid down plan with the finance available to avoid failure in execution. What are the things you think may hinder you from saying that word checkmate in your business sales?
Do you have a competitor in your industry that you wish to go up against? It is straightforward; all you need to do is apply the knowledge used in playing chess and make sure you will be still in the game when all resources are deployed.
Conclusion
Sales roles can be thought of as a game of chess with each move taking you closer to a won deal. While each individual move is important there are a few sales lessons from chess that you can learn from the game of chess that can move you forward to “win” the game such as:
- Think ahead and anticipate “moves” and prepare “counter-moves” such as objections handling or even better objection anticipation and “pre-handling”
- Know how to evaluate the current situation “on the board” and take into account not only the resources in the sales team but in the whole company. Are there any engineers that can help in a sales presentation, is there any marketing information that you need, any budget that needs to be allocated, etc?
- Operate and be conscious about the business constraints and work within those constraints to make sure you will always “be in the game”.