Sales Lessons From World Champ Wonderkid Luke The Nuke
Awesome.
A 17-year-old lad becomes Darts World Champion.
It's one of those strange pursuits, the 'arrers. At once both fringe yet mainstream. A game that everyone can, and probably has, tried. Where the live audience, whether serenading their crowd favourite more, raucously cheer for both players; ♫ stand up if you love the darts, stand up if you looove the darts ... ♫
We've come a long way from medieval English archers shortening their arrows to throw at raised wine barrel bottoms for kicks in the name of practice before next beating the French.
The skill to hit from such distance a target the size of a fingernail is daunting for mere mortals. Add on to that the pressure of competition, and the composure of the freshly crowned wunderkind is also truly astonishing.
The teen inhabits that delightful mental space where he doesn't ever dwell on how he does what he does. He just loves to does.
As a cubrep, soon after I got going I hit a streak. I remember vividly one of the seasoned and serial target-hitters saying of me, 'let's hope he never stops to think about what he's doing'.
Not fully a sentiment I can endorse. But within she had a good point.
That free and easy time of flow. No worries beyond where the next dart must land.
Luke 'The Nuke' Littler has given countless interviews to a ravenous press.
Hardly any detail emerges as to his secret.
Yet perhaps we can glean Sales greatness for ourselves from these three morsels revealed.
Fast Start. In the previous year's Final - for yes, incredibly this was not his debut year, that was aged sixteen - he raced into a decent lead against the World No.1. Only to lose his focus after mixing up a finish and missing a double for what would have maybe been an unassailable position. This time 'round, he wanted an even better start.
And boy, did he deliver. Getting over halfway to the line, with his opponent - a Dutch legend going for his fourth Title - still sat on Nil.
There's a perennial issue with pace in selling. In that despite seller protestations to the contrary, it is the buying tempo that really holds sway. I've often seen sellers set off like a rocket. Only to run out of steam, stall, and fall back well before any escape velocity is reached.
Yet there remains great scope for starting fast. Being first in. Generating urgency. Setting the timetable. Locking out alternative bids. Selling beyond the 'yes'.
Nerveless. Luke admitted that even he'd felt the pressure. “I didn’t feel any nerves until the last [part] when I started shaking a bit. I said to myself: ‘You’ve not shook all game, don’t do it now.’
A slant on the well-established 'stay in the now'. He trusted his what we'd call process. And we ought do the same. Yes, that Board Presentation may feel huge, but if you're on top of the bid, then they'll all want you to do well. Do so.
Paradigm Shift. This one crops up from the mind of often superb sporting mindset author, Matthew Syed. Citing thinker Thomas Kuhn. In our case here, rather than changing the way a discipline gets pursued, it is in the way the youngster navigates goalward.
Startling set-up visits, outrageous checkouts and his love of unfancied Double 10 large among these travels. None of which are expected. Nor largely ever seen before.
We too can build on this. Too many competitors in a particular sector all look the same. All going through similar motions. Seller homogeneity. Practically indistinguishable from each other with only abstract or distant differences promoted. Let's be different too. Let's win like The Nuke.