Fantasy Football Meets Sales Prospecting: How Game Strategy Can Boost Your Sales Success

With the fantasy football season upon us, many of us are diving into last-minute research for our drafts, while others are bracing to lose the attention of their loved ones for the next four months.

As we approach draft day, some of us will meticulously analyze player stats, while others—like myself—will procrastinate until the very last minute, only to regret not doing more research weeks into the season. As I sit down to start my research (approximately 15 minutes before my draft, like clockwork), I'm realizing there are significant parallels between fantasy football and sales prospecting, with valuable lessons we can apply to our sales careers.

For those unfamiliar, fantasy football involves managing your very own pretend football team. You draft a roster of actual NFL players, make trades, and adjust your lineup each week to compete against other pretend team owners. The outcome of your matchups depends on how well your players perform in real-life games, according to a points system. It’s a blend of strategy, luck, and research.

The Link Between Fantasy Football and Sales Prospecting

So, how does this relate to prospecting in sales? In both fantasy football and sales, success hinges on your ability to research, plan, and strategize. Just as you evaluate players in fantasy football, you assess potential clients in sales. The key to winning in either field lies in making informed decisions based on data and insights.

Your fantasy football roster and “watch list” are similar to the clients and opportunities in your CRM system. When you scour the waiver wire for strong player pickups, you’re evaluating factors much like when you identify ideal customers to target. Tools like Winmo, ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and Seamless.AI help you find promising prospects, just as you search for high-potential players based on available insights.

In both arenas, leveraging every resource is crucial. You assess historical performance, current situations, future potential, and external factors like injuries or market conditions. In fantasy football, you consider a player’s matchup, teammate dynamics, and injury history to prepare for weekly matchups. Similarly, in sales, you analyze a prospect’s industry, company performance, and team structure to prepare for each meeting.

Both activities require sifting through information to predict who and what will deliver the best results.

Research: The Key to Success

Just like in fantasy football, each sales year starts fresh. You target a new group of top prospects, research thoroughly, and seek mutually beneficial relationships—much like asking for referrals for warm leads.

Success in both fantasy football and sales depends on diligent research and planning. Prospect research and meeting preparation are two of the most critical, yet often underappreciated, aspects of the sales cycle. This is because in my experience, who you target and how you prepare can be just as important as anything you do or say in meetings. Finding the right companies to target, like selecting the right fantasy players, and planning effectively is what separates top performers from the rest.

While luck plays a role in both fields, success usually comes down to who invests the most in research, preparation, and planning.

Whether you’re drafting a fantasy football team or refining your sales prospecting strategy, remember that a little extra research and planning can set you up for success. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Interested in Learning More?

If you want to learn more about what separates top sales performers and pick up some prospecting tips, check out my Youtube channel, where I post weekly B2B sales insights. You can also see the cold outreach strategy I use to streamline my research and personalized outreach in one place helping me secure consistent meetings here. – My Cold Outreach Strategy

Finally, my upcoming book, “Top Sales Producer: How To Crush Your B2B Sales Quota,” will delve into the exact strategies I’ve used to build my book of business from scratch, consistently exceeding my sales quota by 35% or more and becoming the top-grossing sales rep at my last two companies.

In the book, I share my proven sales methods in a step-by-step guide, covering what to say and do at each stage of the sales cycle to close faster, more profitable deals starting from day one.

You can sign up for the waitlist today to be alerted once it's available and immediately receive the script I use to secure next steps in meetings within five minutes. Plus, if you’re one of the first to purchase my book this fall, you’ll also receive my free $30 supplementary workbook to help you put these learnings into action.

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And remember, if you’re not helping, you’re not selling!