Three BD lessons from the racecourse
I’m writing this week’s newsletter from the US whilst visiting my brother and his family.
My brother is a professional jockey. We couldn’t have chosen more different careers. One spends their days flying around racecourses at 40mph on half a tonne of horseflesh. The other spends their days persuading lawyers to do things they don’t naturally want to do.
Yet over a beer this weekend, it struck me that many of the lessons that make successful jockeys successful are exactly the same lessons that apply to sales and business development.
Here are three that stood out. Enjoy.
#1. Nobody pays for potential
Every jockey has heard it. “I’ve got a really promising horse.”
Promising doesn’t pay the bills. Results do.
Business development is remarkably similar. Clients don’t buy your ambitions, strategy documents or promises about future service levels. They buy evidence that you’ve solved problems like theirs before.
The mistake is talking about what you could do. The better approach is to demonstrate what you’ve already done.
Case studies. Testimonials. Introductions and referrals from existing clients. You’re borrowing credibility until you’ve earned your own.
A jockey gets more rides because they won the last race. We get more work because we delivered on the last engagement.
AI top tip: Ask your favourite AI tool to review your website, LinkedIn profile or pitch deck and highlight every statement that makes a claim without supporting evidence. The results can be sobering.
#2. Most people only see race day
The race might last two minutes. The preparation takes years. Fitness. Training. Diet. Studying form. Walking courses. Building relationships with trainers and owners.
Punters only ever see a tiny fraction of the effort that goes into winning.
The same applies in professional services. They see the pitch.
They don’t see the countless coffees, networking events, follow-up emails, CRM updates, internal meetings, account planning sessions and failed opportunities that came before it.
The mistake most firm management makes is to judge success solely on visible outcomes.
The better approach is to obsess over (and recognise) the inputs you can control.
Most firms admire rainmakers. Far fewer people are willing to consistently replicate the habits and behaviours that created them.
Everyone wants the winner’s trophy. Far fewer people want the 5am alarm clock.
AI top tip: Use AI to remove low-value admin from your day. The goal isn’t to work less. It’s to spend more time on the activities that actually generate opportunities.
#3. Sometimes you get boxed in
Even the best jockey in the world occasionally gets trapped behind a wall of horses.
Wrong place. Wrong time. Race over. Not because they lacked skill. Because horse racing is messy.
Sales is too. You won’t win every pitch. Prospects will ghost you. Budgets will disappear.
Procurement will select the cheapest (not the best) option. And occasionally a client will choose a competitor for reasons that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
The mistake is spending energy worrying about things you can’t control. The better approach is to accept what’s happened, learn as much as you can and focus relentlessly on the next race. To borrow an analogy from another sporting great – listen to Roger Federer’s commencement speech at Dartmouth on this very point.
The best business developers aren’t necessarily the most talented. They’re often the most resilient. They accept that bad luck happens. Then they get back on the horse. (Sorry. It would have been rude not to 😉).
AI top tip: After every lost opportunity, ask AI to conduct a structured debrief. What went well? What could have been improved? What patterns are emerging? Turn disappointment into data.
Chat to Tina by voice, when you’re between meetings, on the commute to/from work, or heading into something you’d rather avoid.
Final furlong
The more I thought about it this weekend, the more similarities I found.
- Performance matters.
- Preparation matters.
- Resilience matters.
And just like racing, nobody remembers how many races you nearly won.
We’re building a team of voice enabled AI assistants to support you with BD activities and allow you to spend more time being human. Interested? We’d love to chat.
