With Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic stars being honoured with a celebration in London’s Trafalgar Square, we look back at one of Great Britain’s most successful Olympic seasons ever…
After an outstanding performance in the 2012 London Games, no-one thought it would be possible to outshine ourselves once again. Yet there we were with a number of world records tucked under our belts.
As much as the Olympics is a great chance to inspire younger generations and a stage for the world to see the hard work behind the scenes, there are other great lessons that these athletes can teach us – even in the world of marketing. This blog post is going to take a quick look at 3 very important lessons our GB athletes can teach us about lead generation:
Lesson 1: Synchronise your team members
Ensuring that all your members are working together will go a long way to winning gold. We’ve already looked at how the sales and marketing relationship can be reinforced and team GB really brought this message home.
If all your team members are working harmoniously together, then this not only keeps your departments well aligned but it will strengthen your performance as well and increase your chances of receiving a perfect score from the judges, I meant to say prospects.
In an ideal world Marketing will be responsible for the initial coordination that delivers the right opportunities to find the leads whereas Sales will be working on closing the deal. So what happens when you’re out of sync?
It’s time to take a step back and look at how well your Sales and Marketing departments are working together. Do they have the synchronicity of Olympic Gold Medallists Jack Laugher and Chris Ears? Or is it a bit like watching Ilya Zakharov?
Lesson 2: Practice makes perfect
When it comes to lead nurturing, it’s worth taking a look at Max Whitlock’s performance. The Olympic Gold Medallist scored 15.633 for the Artistic Floor Exercise and beat the Brazilian Silver Medallist by 0.1 points. A close call.
Whitlock’s performance wasn’t something he pulled out of a hat, but months and months of practising and trying new techniques to ensure he could perfect his routine and score as highly as possible. His hard work certainly paid off.
A recent interview with GQ Magazine sheds the light on some of Whitlock’s personal training tips. His first piece of advice is setting clear targets and when it comes to managing a lead generation campaign, there is nothing more important. Maintaining focus and sticking to the plan will not only help with achieving that gold medal but will ensure your campaign is performing to the best of it’s abilities.
And then when it comes to the launch of a campaign, remember that you’ve done all the hard work.
As I was competing, I was just thinking, ‘I’ve done all the hard work, so the hardest bit is done. I’ve got to go and enjoy it like I would in any competition’.’ – Max Whitlock, GQ Magazine
Once you’ve set your goals and done the hard work, there’s nothing left but to launch the campaign and perfecting your techniques in the lead-up to the launch will only go to strengthen your position as a lead-generating machine.
Lesson 3: Timing is key
Two-times Olympic Gold Medallist Nicola Adams can tell us a lot about how important timing is. When it comes to being in the ring against an opponent, timing is everything. You need to stay alert and pick your moments carefully. Choosing the right method of attack at the right moment is crucial and the only way to avoid a knockout.
When it comes to creating content, choosing your topics correctly is crucial and if you want to win new business via your content marketing, you need to be in front of your prospects in exactly the right place and at exactly the right time, with exactly the right information they’re looking for to deliver that crucial lead generation blow. Distribution tactics and targeting can be the difference to winning the Gold or being knocked out.
Going for gold is tough work and takes years of training but it’s all about honing those skills and trying again, building upon what you already have and trying again.
