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Why Selling Is Like Racquetball

Written by: Russ Lombardo

Article Overview: I finally got back into my favorite sport – Racquetball. It’s been nearly four years since I played. When we moved from New Jersey to Las Vegas, there were no clubs nearby for me to join. But they finally opened a brand new health club not far from my home. So I joined and am back to playing my favorite sport 3 times a week. I really didn’t realize how much I missed it till I started playing again. I guess after being away from it for a while gave me a new perspective once I resumed playing again because I was suddenly aware of several interesting analogies between this fast-paced sport and selling. Yes, you heard me. I can see several similarities between playing Racquetball and Selling!

Why Selling Is Like Racquetball

I finally got back into my favorite sport – Racquetball. It’s been nearly four years since I played. When we moved from New Jersey to Las Vegas, there were no clubs nearby for me to join. But they finally opened a brand new health club not far from my home. So I joined and am back to playing my favorite sport 3 times a week. I really didn’t realize how much I missed it till I started playing again.

I guess after being away from it for a while gave me a new perspective once I resumed playing again because I was suddenly aware of several interesting analogies between this fast-paced sport and selling. Yes, you heard me. I can see several similarities between playing Racquetball and Selling! Allow me to elaborate.

Have a Strategy

For those of you who don’t play Racquetball, or not much of it, you may think it’s just a sport where you use a stunted tennis racquet to beat a little blue ball into the front wall while the other guy, or gal, chases after it trying to hit it back. Well, there’s a lot more to it than that. There is a strategy to how you play, and the longer you play, the better your strategy.

The strategy consists mainly of a careful balance between Power and Control. Sometimes you need to hit a power shot to blow the ball past your opponent when they are standing in mid-court or towards the front wall. Other times you need an easier control shot when they are standing behind you so the ball hits the front corner and dies, thereby not coming out for your opponent to return the shot.

In sales, sometimes you need to be assertive (Power) and other times you need to be more passive (Control). If your prospect is having a hard time making a decision, but you know that this is the right solution for them and./or their business, it often helps to apply a little “power” to the sales process by being a little more forceful with your approach. Recommending alternatives and painting a clear, vivid picture for them to visualize the solution can be accompanied with more attempts at closing. Using a more forceful nature may help get them over the hurdle of decision-making.

Other times, the prospect may be more aggressive and you need to back off and apply “Control” by acting more submissive. In this case, your approach could be to help guide them to making their own decision by positioning them to see your solution, but in their own way. In other words, be empathetic (“Yes, I agree and understand what you are saying.”), reiterate their problems (“Of course, you did say you were having a lot of delays with your current system.”), review your solution (“And I do believe that our system can alleviate the problems you’re currently experiencing.”) and move gently to a close (“Do you agree that our system is the right one for your business?”). By doing so you can guide them to make the right decision. Control doesn’t mean manipulation. I would never recommend manipulating your customer. The difference is that the Control strategy helps the client make the right decision, where manipulation tricks them into making “your” decision.

Have Patience

In Racquetball, you often need patience. I see these young kids come into the court and try to “blow you away” with a few quick power shouts. Well, if 20+ years of Racquetball has taught me one thing, it’s how to be patient. There are many, many set-up shots you can make in this sport. Let’s say you are driven to the back of the court to make your shot, but you really don’t have a good offensive shot (one that can win you the point). Instead, you can hit a strategic defensive shot. That is, a shot that, a) your opponent cannot easily put away (win the point) and, b) sets you up for the next shot so YOU can put it away. It’s difficult to explain this, but it’s like a two-play set up that lets you win the point by being patient. Inexperienced players try all offensive shots without strategic defensive shots, which results in losing the game.

In sales, you also have to be patient. Sure, you may want the sale now, or your company may be pressuring you to close the sale before the end of the quarter, but if the prospect isn’t ready, there’s not always a lot you can do. You can’t give up. And, getting impatient doesn’t help either. So you have to show restraint and patience. When you see a delay coming, back off and try a different approach such as stop offering all the free advice the prospect keeps asking for and call less frequently. Then focus on other higher-probability accounts. This will help change your perspective as well as generate revenue from other sources. Dive back in later when you think the prospect might be ready or just to check in. Also, re-set your perspectives so you are not disappointed when there are delays. Eventually, when the prospect is ready to buy, you’ll be there for them and your patience will have paid off.

Never Play Angry

One of the things I enjoy doing with some of these younger, hotshot players is to mess around with their heads. Like I said before, they think that all they need to do to win is to beat the heck out of the ball with power shots and no strategy. However, it’s actually quite entertaining to get them running all over the court, diving for shots, running into the walls, and just getting themselves into a tizzy, just to lose the point. It’s actually quite amusing to watch, at least for my sadistic mind. They really get angry. And once that happens, they can’t play for anything. They get mad at themselves, at me, at the ball, at the walls, everything. But they lose focus on the game, and that spells defeat every time.

In sales, you can never afford to get angry. Certainly, you can’t show anger to your prospect. If you do, you’ll never get a second chance to sell to them again. I’ve had many times when the prospect kept me hanging on to a promise of a sale and had me writing quotes, doing demos, and working on trying to get the sale, only to hear them say that they decided to do nothing at all. Clearly, we want to get mad and say, “WHAT! What do you mean you aren’t going to do anything? Didn’t you tell me weeks ago that you’re having major problems with your current system?” But we can’t do that. In fact, the more professional you handle these situations, the better the chance of them contacting you when they are ready to purchase. It might take a year or two, and believe me; I have several very good customers today who fit this exact description. But if you showed anger, I can assure you, they will never call you again (Sounds like we are back to the patience lesson again, doesn’t it?).

You also don’t want to get angry in private either. Although we may feel like punching a wall when a prospect decides to do nothing, or go with a competitor, we will lose a valuable lesson by getting angry – one that will teach us what we may have done wrong so we can avoid doing the same thing next time. Which leads me to the next parody.

Sometimes It’s Painful

Win or lose, Racquetball can be very painful. If not while you’re playing, then certainly the next morning. All sorts of muscles ache and bones crack when you play hard, regardless of what shape you’re in or whether you won or lost. But, it is invigorating and I always learn from it. If I lost, which is both physically and mentally painful, then I need to reflect on what I did wrong. Sometimes, I simply played a better opponent and I need to figure out what parts of my game I need to improve so I can play better next time. If I won, I still think about what I could have done better. Did I win because I played a novice or did I play my best against a very experienced player and recalled what strategies worked or failed so I can replicate or avoid them next time?

In sales, losing a sale is painful, especially when you worked real hard at it and it went to a competitor. But you have to get over the pain and do a post-mortem. What did you do wrong? What did your competitor do right or different from you? What will you do next time to prevent a loss?

If you won a sale, do you also do a post-mortem? If not, you should. As difficult and painful as it was winning a tough sale, I know you want to celebrate, and you should. But, you should also analyze what you did to win that sale because if you can replicate what you did, your chances for success in future sales will increase significantly. Many sales people just move on to the next opportunity without a second thought about how they won their last victory. And, unfortunately, that’s a valuable lesson lost.

Have Fun

My philosophy on life is – If it ain’t fun doing, don’t do it. I have fun working (therefore I don’t consider it work) and I have fun playing Racquetball. Whatever you do in life, you should make it fun. Sales can be a whole lot of fun, and it usually is for me. I hope it is for you too.


I hope you too can see the analogies I see between Racquetball and Selling. If you think about it, I’m sure you can see similar analogies with golf, football, cooking, or other sports and hobbies. It just takes some closer looks and an open mind. I hope this little sample helps you reflect on your selling tactics and strategies.

Good Luck & Good Selling!

Russ Lombardo

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