Sales Lessons From The Lance Armstrong Fiasco….

By Andy Preston | General Sales Tips

Oct 28

This article was originally written a dew months after Lance Armstrong was accused of using performance-enhacing drugs. The lessons are still valid, even though it’s now some time since that happened….

Well. It’s been an interesting few months for Lance Armstrong, hasn’t it?!! I must admit, when the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) allegations started coming out a few months ago, as a Lance ‘fan’, I was quick to defend him – coming from a family affected by cancer as many are, I loved his book ‘it’s not about the bike’ and found his story inspirational, coming back from cancer twice to win the Tour De France 7 times.

I was even on his side when USADA tried to take him to court with the ‘evidence’ they had compiled, and his statement about him stopping resisting it anymore because of the impact on his family etc (see Lance’s statement here)

I could relate to him having had enough of ‘fighting’ allegations for years, the effect it had on his family, the fact that he’d never (allegedly) failed a drug test, etc etc.

But Then More Evidence Came Out….

The more ‘evidence’ that came out against Lance, the more I looked into it.

When I saw the statement and the evidence provided by USADA (see their evidence here) read that page, as well as their ‘reasoned decision pdf’ and the ‘appendices and supporting material’ (both tabs on the webpage above) and the fact that Nike and other sponsors looked into it and decided to drop their sponsorship – I started to change my mind.

In light of all that evidence against him, I now believe it was highly likely that Lance DID take performance enhancing drugs and use blood transfusions etc to gain a competitive advantage. It’s pretty hard to think otherwise when you see all that evidence.

I have heard some people still defending him, saying that ‘if they were ALL taking drugs, it was a level playing field, and he still won’. I understand that argument, but it’s not correct. A large number of riders, probably most of the participants, were doping – if the stories now coming out are to be believed.

But the race still wasn’t ‘fair’. It wasn’t about the skill of the rider. Their endurance. Their ability to ride through the pain barrier and still come out on top.

It appears now to have been about who was the most skilled at doping…. and not being caught.

That’s a shame, as at the very least it’s tainted what Lance had achieved and done for so many people.

So what sales lessons can we learn from this?

Sales Lesson No 1 – If You Make A Mistake – Put It Right, Fast!

The first Sales Lesson we can learn from this is that if you make a mistake, put it right fast! Most of the time, if you or your company make an error, the quicker you tell the customer and the quicker you put it right, the better it is for your reputation, your relationship, and your chance of repeat sales.

The more you procrastinate on a problem, hoping it will go away, the more damage you do to your own reputation, and your chances of more business from that particular client. In these days of social media, small problems can magnify quickly and spread a piece of bad news faster than previously possible – make sure you and your company don’t fall victim to this by sorting out customer problems and complaints quickly!

Sales Lesson No 2 – Selling Is All About EMOTION

It’s been interesting to watch both sides of this debate. And how much people have got stirred up by it. How much they’ve been strongly defending Lance, and others have been strongly opposing him and saying how much he’s let everyone down etc etc.

Ultimately this has stirred up emotions within people. And that’s what selling/buying does.

Good salespeople sell on emotion. They transfer emotions from themselves to the buyers in the sales process. You can hear over the phone when someone is confident…. certain……positive…… and when they’re not!

So, what emotions are you currently transferring to prospects in your sales process right now? Positive ones that are MORE likely to help them buy from you. Or ones like bored, tired and disinterested instead?

Sales Lesson No 3 – Focus On The 2%

A lot of people trying to defend Lance, talk about his taking of performance enhancing drugs and blood transfusions ‘not affecting performance that much’. That much is true. In fact in his New York Times article in August, a previous team-mate of Lance, Jonathan Vaughters stated that the difference all the doping made was only about 2%

2% in the Tour De France however is the difference between finishing around 100th place… and winning the thing! So that little 2% matters quite a lot!

So that got me thinking about Sales. What are YOUR 2% things that make the difference?

Is it making those extra calls you’ve been putting off? Working on your objection handling to make sure you don’t get ‘stumped’ by them? Working on having more of a ‘top performer’ mindset?

Think about what things would be the 2% things for you…. And those 2% things could make all the difference!

Sales Lesson No 4 – If You Cheat, You’re Cheating Yourself

We’ve all heard phrases like ‘cheats never prosper’ or ‘you’re only harming yourself’. But what does this actually mean for us in Sales terms?

In Sales, most people aren’t able to ‘cheat’ on a scale that Lance Armstrong has allegedly done. But what are the things that you do to ‘cheat’ yourself out of things?

Not preparing enough for Sales Meetings or important phone calls? Not striving to perform at your best a much of the time as possible (legally!). Not being ‘on your game’ as much as you could be? Not doing the extra things you know you ‘could’ do that would make a difference to your figures?

By taking ‘shortcuts’ or not doing the above, you’re just cheating yourself out of what you could achieve. And in the end, it affects you more than anyone else.

The more evidence I hear against him, the less impact Lance’s amazing feats (like this one) have on me.

And I’m left wondering what to do with the Livestrong band on my desk… and the montage of Lance Armstrong pictures on my wall. I just don’t have the same emotion about them anymore…..

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

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Andy Preston

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Andy Preston is a top International Sales Motivational Speaker, Sales Influencer and Master Sales Trainer.

Named as one of the World's Top Sales Gurus, Andy creates 'Stand Out Salespeople' worldwide, with his revolutionary 'Stand Out Selling' Sales System. 'Stand Out Selling' helps salespeople stand out from their competition, win more business, and do so at higher prices!

Previously a trained Professional Buyer, then the Top Salesperson in the UK, Andy Preston has now trained more than 160,000 Salespeople, in more than 50 countries, on 6 continents, since 2004!

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