Coaching & Strategy

In hockey, the coach can make or break a team. A great coach inspires the players, guides them to follow a rock solid strategy, and helps them keep their head up when times are tough.

A great business mentor needs to have the same qualities. Although it may take “10,000 hours” to become a master in something new, you can certainly speed up your process by borrowing hours from people who have been there and back. Great mentors can give you a solid strategy to market your business, convert more sales, keep your customers coming back for more, and give you advice when things aren’t going your way.

A great business coach (and a supporting mastermind group) can make the difference between a business flop and a tremendous success. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but the fortune is in the execution.  My business coach is offering a new challenge this week that will certainly transform some businesses for the new year!

Agility & Responsiveness

In hockey, players need agility to cut in and out of tight spots, turn on a dime, and re-act in super human scenarios, because a second late can make all the difference between a win and a loss. In running your business, you need agility to make changes on the fly when something you thought would be a huge success isn’t working.

While you’re running your big marketing campaign, you need agility to analyze and take action on results from split testing to achieve maximum profits. With the speed at which the modern world operates, failing to react quickly to signals can mean the difference between a massive success or a disappointing failure.

Coordination & Teamwork

In hockey, having the best players in the world isn’t always going to lead to a win. The use of great teamwork and coordination is just as important as the skill of the players. We’ve seen this many times when underdogs “outplay” the teams expected to win. This happens in all sports and many times it’s a matter of superior teamwork and coordination that leads to winning the game.

In business, it’s critical to have all of your systems and employees talking to each other and working together. If your email system doesn’t know which customers purchased products, you can end up with embarrassing emails going to the wrong people. If your team members aren’t aware of new promotions coming along, your customer support can falter from miscommunication.

Having alignment in your systems and team is incredibly important to having a business that runs smoothly and grows rapidly. This is one of the biggest reasons we love Infusionsoft so much – it makes this level of coordination easy and seamless in your business!

Stick-to-it-iveness & Commitment

In hockey, it takes incredible commitment to show up game after game with intensity and focus. Down the stretch when teams are tired and worn out, the best conditioned and most committed teams rise to the top and claim victory.

In business, it’s a similar story. My good friend Lynan once gave me some advice when I was starting a new project. She said, “This part is a sprint, the rest is a marathon”. Sometimes you need to be able to take a few blows while testing new ideas to see what works, and stick in there when things are getting tough. You can’t always give up after the first try.

With that said, it’s also imperative to give yourself time for recovery and rest. Otherwise you risk burnout which can be detrimental to your focus for a long time. Hockey teams regularly take breaks from practice to recuperate. This is essential for solid performance in the long haul!

Hunger & Hustle

In hockey, commentators regularly say that the best players are “hungry for the puck”. They’ll do what it takes to get the puck on their stick to make a play, score a goal, etc. A little bit of extra hustle can mean a big difference over the course of a game or season.

In business, companies have to be hungry for the sale. This isn’t to say that you should compromise your values and integrity – that’s a whole different topic. However, if you don’t ask for the sale and fail to give your customers a clear and obvious path to buy from you, they will never convert from prospects to customers.

Getting the Right Support

If your team needs support in the sprint or needs help preparing for the marathon then it may be time to invest in a strategic coach to help you reach your goals. If you want to discuss how better marketing automation can support your business and launches click here to schedule a call.

In other news, I am so glad hockey is back!

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Image credit: 5of7