Does Defense Really Win Championships?
In a word: No.
It was found that when it comes to winning a title, or winning in sports in general, offense and defense carry nearly identical weight.
In almost 10,000 NFL regular season games, the better defensive team has won 66.5 percent of the time compared with 67.4 percent of the time for the better offensive team. That’s a slight advantage to the offense, but a negligible difference.
Maybe the phrase “defense wins championships” is supposed to mean is that defense is somehow more necessary than offense. Sifting through the numbers, it was discovered that the answer is no. In the regular season, playoffs, and championships, underdog teams are no more likely to win if they are good defenders than if they are good scorers.
In business, your sales organization needs a good offense and the ability to shift to a good defense when necessary. Let’s review the game plan for a winning strategy.
Offense
- Coach – This is a critical role. The coach / manager is in charge of the team. You recognize the role that each team member plays in the success of your organization. Do they produce more offense and need to improve their defense? Or are they playing too much defense and not producing revenue for your team? Coaching is being able to identify your team members’ strengths and helping them improve the other part of their game. We all want a balanced team.
- Team Captain – Every team has a player who leads their team. This person has the trust and experience to inspire others. Who is your team leader?
- Do you have the right team members to win? Who do you need to recruit to improve your top line revenue?
- Game plan – What is the strategy for a winning season for your sales revenue?
- Prospecting – Have you identified potential sales opportunities you’d like to convert?
- Growth of current clients – Have you stretched every opportunity with your current clients?
- Competitive advantage – Are you positioning the strengths of your product or service versus your competitors?
- Switch teams – Can you convert clients from your competitors who don’t have a good defense?
Defense
- Customer engagement – You understand what your customer needs and you give it to them.
- Retention – You have a winning strategy to protect your current clients from going to another team / company.
- Objections – You’re prepared to defend why a customer should continue doing business with you versus working with another team.
- Other team’s weaknesses – You can expose your competitors’ short falls and defend your product or services position.
Bottom line: Defense is no more important than offense. It’s having both that gives your team a better chance of winning!