Why Sales is Like Chess (Not Just "Toasting")

Today on the podcast, we're going to look at why sales is like chess. Not just toasting. This is an article, or a post rather, that I wrote for my LinkedIn profile. So let's begin. It's a Saturday morning, which means one thing in my house, Akara for breakfast. While waiting for the vendor to process my order, I did what I always do. I pulled out my phone for a quick game of chess. Lately I've been experimenting with king and queen pawn openings.

When you're playing a 2 minute blitz game, it looks frantic. To an outsider, it might look like I'm just pushing pawns randomly, but because my kids play a little, they can see the larger picture. I can make bold snap judgements because I understand three things #1 the principles or the rules of the game #2 the strategy, the specific plan I'm employing are #3 the context, how the board shifts with every move. Sure, I still get punished swiftly when I miss a detail,

but the foundation is there. So why am I talking about chess? Because in Nigeria, people think sales and business development are just about two things, toasting and packaging. Toasting is being slick and having smooth, compelling lines. Packaging is branding yourself to create an aura of success. While these help, they are the full picture. Sales is a system. It's more like chess, Scrabble or football than it's like a magic trick.

To win consistently, you have to move past the vibes and master the mechanics. Master the fundamentals. Learn the fundamentals, understand the why behind every move. Get your reps in. You don't get better by thinking, you get better by playing. Practice until the patterns become second nature. Iterate based on feedback. When you get beaten on the field, take that data, plug it back into your process and go again. Mastery isn't natural.

People see me today and think you get out for body. They think I'm just a natural. But I wasn't born playing chess. I started as an adult. I wasn't born a salesman, a public speaker, or a radio show host either. I was a shy kid at the back of the class. I got good because I realized there were fundamentals to be mastered and I refused to stop putting in the repetitions. The lesson is simple, stop trying to toast or package your way to revenue success.

Learn the game, master the math, and keep playing. The magic will follow. I hope you've enjoyed me reading the article that I put up for LinkedIn. And of course, if you'd like to see stuff like this, all you have to do is just follow me on LinkedIn. But let me know, send me a text message, a WhatsApp message on the 08064662140. If you like me reading up my articles on LinkedIn, let me know, Perhaps I'll do more of it.

So that's it, thank you very much. I'll catch you all some other time.