Unexpected SALES LESSONS from The Karate Hottie

10X GrowthCon speaker, author, podcaster and all around cool dude Lewis Howes had MMA fighter Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson on his podcast.  In this near 60 minute conversation Michelle shared how she went from ring girl to girl in the ring and all the hardships that come with being in MMA and being a girl, a wife and a mom.

Conveniently enough, as I listened, I realized that many of the lessons Michelle delivered had direct sales, service and business development implications as well and that this podcast just wasn’t about fighting in the Octagon.

Here are my FIVE SALES LESSONS from The Karate Hottie

Karate Hottie Sales Lesson #1:  Have a vision (and an unrealistic one at that)

Michelle had a vision board with her dream of fighting in a fight promotion that at the time didn’t allow women.  Not a very realistic goal at all, but guess what?  She went for it anyway.  She made her intention known and the universe came together…  AND she also didn’t lower her target.  The 10X Rule teaches that real success requires you to think big and take massive levels of action. “Dreams are the fuel for an incredible life.”  –Grant Cardone.  Michelle stayed focused on her goal no matter what and created her reality.

10X ACTION IDEAS:  Have you ever set targets and then backed off because they seemed out of reach or unrealistic?   Have you ever lowered a target?  What goals do you have right now that seem out of reach and unattainable?  How can you use those dreams to fuel your days and create your reality?

Karate Hottie Sales Lesson #2:  Face your fears

Speaking of The 10X Rule, there’s an acronym for the word fear.  F.E.A.R. stands for False Events Appearing Real.  Michelle’s fears were that she wasn’t good enough and that she didn’t belong.  How did she handle it?  She stepped up and into a steal cage and faced all her fears.  And it wasn’t just her opponent across the cage, it was also the little voice in her head that she had to conquer as well.

10X ACTION IDEAS:  How are you getting in your own way?  What are you afraid of that you need to face?  What is that little voice telling you that you know is a lie?  Can you see what success looks like to you?  What kind of legacy do you want to leave?  Are you allowing your fear to stop you from being the champion that you are?

Karate Hottie Sales Lesson #3:  Have Unshakeable Confidence

Louis asks what it takes to be a champion in the UFC and Michelle’s answer is really strong deep unshakeable confidence.  You can’t doubt yourself at all and you have to be two steps ahead of everyone else.

Etymology of the confidence:  con, meaning with; and fidere, meaning to trust.  Confidence means “with trust.”  So as a sales professional, do you trust yourself?  Are you with trust when it comes to your skills as a sales person?

10X ACTION IDEAS:  The best way to confidence is to earn it.  Michelle says her key to confidence in the cage is KNOWING she put in the work.  So for you, do you know, as you start your day, if you put in the work?  When you make that call, have you put in the work?  When you go for the close, have you put in the work?

Karate Hottie Sales Lesson #4:  Your opponent deserves the best version of you

Now keep this in mind, a prospect is not an opponent and not your adversary.  Sell Or Be Sold teaches us that service is senior to selling and The Closer’s Survival Guide shows us that you haven’t truly served your client until they are using and winning with your product.  We’re going for win/win here.

So taking all that into account, your client deserves the absolute best version of you that you can possibly bring to the transaction.  Grant says that the most important sale you’ll ever make is the one you make to yourself so make sure you are 100% in the game and that you bring all of your great self to the table.  Your client deserves that

10X ACTION IDEAS:  When have you operated at less than your potential?  How does that feel?  What can you do daily to make sure you’re bringing the best version of possible to the table?  Start debriefing your deals.  Find what worked.  Isolate what didn’t.  What did you learn?  Figure out what you can do better next time.

[ CLICK HERE for a free PDF of Grant’s Client Interaction Debrief Worksheet]

Karate Hottie Sales Lesson #5:  Constant Improvement

Here was the question posed to Michelle from her sports psychologist, “Do you think that when Muhammed Ali was a champion that he still had things to work on?”  So if you’re reading this now, the question I have for you is, are you the greatest at a Muhammed Ali like level?  No?  OK then.  Back to the gym you go!

10X ACTION IDEAS:  Be GREAT in that moment and always be looking for ways to grow and improve.

CONCLUSION:

These were the five big one’s for me.  These are my take-a-ways.  What did I miss?  After listening to this yourself, leave me a comment below with your key take-a-ways and what you got from it.  We’re all different and have unique points of view.  Would be curious to see yours.  What did YOU learn from The Karate Hottie?