Not sure if you enjoy college and high school wrestling but since I wrestled my junior and senior year in high school, just love the sport (almost as much as hockey). Why this subject? Well my friend and former colleague, Cheryl Glory, has her oldest son, Patrick (pictured here) who wrestled for the second straight year on the national stage and won it all. The NCAA Division I 125 lb. CHAMPION!
I've been following Patrick since his freshman year at Princeton and always amazed how much he has achieved at the national level against some of the toughest competition. After this year's championship win (the first national champion for Princeton in 72 years), I started thinking about how a Champion, like Patrick, has to being a Rainmaker.
Yes, we all know you need a team behind you and having the coaching, the mentoring, the training staff, the support staff, the family, the friends, the peers, and even the competition (bringing out the better you) are all key to achieving a championship and winning massive amounts of revenue for your company.
However, while on the wrestling mat or on the phone or meeting with a client, it's on you (the individual) to deliver. Think about this....if Pat just went out and played defense against Matt Ramos, you most likely would have seen Patrick lose and another champion crowned. Instead, Patrick was the obvious aggressor and went after shot after shot for a takedown. He finally had one land successfully and then gained points and continued to be the aggressor.
It's like in sales these days, playing the aggressor means:
- You have a weekly and daily plan you execute from
- You spend the majority of your time during the day prospecting and on the phone/meetings talking with clients an prospects
- While not on the phone, you are researching the client and prospect needs
- You are sharing insights and value with them
- You are continuing to add to the network and connect with additional buying team members
- You are not waiting on new content from marketing or ops, you publish and prepare key insights and new content to share your knowledge and expertise
- You practice and practice some more (scripts, plays, enhancing the deck and doing it again, etc.)
So yes, it takes a team to become a champion or a rainmaker (as Patrick so humbly stated during the interview below). However, you as the individual contributor still have to do your part with all of your energy, passion, and best ability. Every day. Every match. Every customer touchpoint. Every meeting. Every day!
To help set your weekly agenda as a Rainmaker, check out our weekly agenda to help you plan your activity and routines for the week: https://www.mattallendevelopment.com/post/weekly-agenda-that-drives-growth