Roberto Forzoni has spent more than 30 years helping elite athletes perform under pressure. On episode six of Sales Rewritten, the sports psychologist shares the habits sellers can borrow from Premier League footballers, Olympians and Andy Murray.
Roberto Forzoni started his career in sport as a football coach under Steve Coppell at Crystal Palace, Brentford and Brighton.
He studied everything he could to make his teams better - from fitness to nutrition - but he found only one thing made a difference straight away: psychology.
He has since worked with Premier League clubs, Olympic athletes, the Lawn Tennis Association, Andy Murray and boxer Derek Chisora.
In episode six of Sales Rewritten, he tells host Alex Wood what high performers do differently - and what salespeople could learn from sport.
Few jobs are as target-driven as sales.
Roberto says elite athletes separate their goals into three types:
"The most important goal is a process goal. What do you do every day to improve your performance? If your focus is on the outcome goal, you get all the pressure."
The best athletes stay focused on the process, because that's what drives the performance that delivers the outcome.
Roberto sums it up with a simple acronym - WIN - which stands for "What's important now?"
For a seller, that might be the next call.
Process goals work best when every call has a clear reason behind it. Find out how signal-based prospecting helps you reach the right buyer at the right time.
Rejection is part of sales, and Roberto says the best performers simply don't dwell on it.
Even Roger Federer, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, lost almost half the points he played across his career.
Tennis players use a quick routine between points that works just as well between sales calls.
"Release, review, reset. So release tension... Review. So as you're going to the back of the court, review, why did you win that point? Why did you lose a point? And reset, come back out."
The aim is to learn from every point, then let it go. If you expect a lot of no's before you find a yes, each one stops feeling like a setback.
You'll hear fewer no's when you're calling the right people with the right details. See how data enrichment helps you reach verified contacts first time.
Roberto pays close attention to the words people use, because language shapes how we think and behave. He hears coaches and parents tell players they were unlucky when they weren't.
"But if you have a shot and you've skied it, that's not unlucky, that's bad technique... So why not call it as it is? Because unlucky means I can't do anything about it."
The same goes for "must-win" games and unrealistic targets.
Telling yourself you must close every deal only adds pressure. A realistic goal, backed by good preparation, gives you a far better chance of hitting it.
In 2007, West Ham were bottom of the Premier League with ten games left. Roberto was brought in and met the players without any staff in the room.
Once they started talking, three senior players stepped up: Dean Ashton said the team wasn't professional enough, Lee Bowyer said they weren't fighting for each other, and Carlos Tevez said they weren't practising enough.
That same day, Tevez stayed behind to practise free kicks.
He hadn't scored in 19 games, but the next weekend, he curled one into the top corner and went on to score seven in the last nine games.
West Ham won seven of those nine and stayed up on the final day after a memorable performance away at Old Trafford.
"So this is what I said right at the beginning, and it's psychology, how it can change things quickly. We didn't have any time. We had to change things in an instant."
Roberto first met boxer Derek Chisora expecting the showman from the press conferences.
Instead, he found a family man who was nothing like his fight persona.
So should salespeople put on a persona to cope with cold calls? Roberto says be yourself, because real confidence comes from preparation.
He also points sellers to the well-known ‘Fish’ philosophy, inspired by a Seattle fish market where the team stays upbeat from four in the morning: choose your attitude, be present, make someone's day and have fun.
"Choose your attitude, be present. So when you're on the phone and making that call, you are totally listening to, actively listening to what they're saying. You haven't just got your script going."
Confidence comes from preparation, and the best preparation starts with the right insight. Here's what sales intelligence is and how revenue teams use it to walk into every call ready.
There is plenty more in the episode, including how Roberto built the first Team Murray, Andy Murray's obsessive approach to practice, the day Derek Chisora's wife called him, and the managers who wanted honest feedback.
Roberto Forzoni is a performance psychologist and keynote speaker. A former football coach, he has worked with Premier League clubs including West Ham, Olympic athletes, Andy Murray and Derek Chisora, and helps business leaders perform under pressure. Find him on LinkedIn.
Surfe finds verified emails and phone numbers for your prospects and sends them straight to your CRM.
Alex Wood tells Surfe's story across every part of the business, from product news to onboarding new users and everything in between. He oversees all aspects of Surfe's video content production, communicating new features and connecting with audiences. Born in the UK. Based in Bristol. Can quote every line of Jurassic Park 🦖
Your most pressing questions, answered with clarity.
%201%20(1)%20(1).avif)
