Uncle Yung Sales Tip: "It's never a 'no', just a not now.”

I had the chance to be a guest speaker to the employees of SponsorUnited, hosted by their CEO Bob Lynch. We had an in-depth discussion on how to develop Olympic talent in the market place and professional talent in the workplace. I share a few good stories on what I learned over the past six years growing the CG Sports business. Finally we talk about the importance of establishing core company values and the similarities between elite athletes and elite sales people (this one was fun). 

Bob asked me, “What’s one piece of advice you would give entrepreneurs and sales people who keep getting told ‘NO’?” 

My advice here is to remember, “It’s never a NO. Just a not now.” 

Trust me on this. As a sports agent focusing on Olympic sports, I know about getting told no.

It takes persistence, creativity and understanding that a “NO” usually means you need to re-approach things from a different angle. Step back. Take time to develop a different approach. Then get back out there and keep trying.

So many of our best partnerships and sponsor relationships at CG Sports started off with a wonderful “NO” to my face :)

A few years ago one of our clients, Kara Lynn Joyce, was a keynote speaker at the Comcast Xfinity Leadership Event. She had a powerful closing quote from her speech that really stuck with the executives at Comcast:

"Trust your hard work is unlocking doors you can't see." 

This is so true and very powerful to me because I see it happen every week. As long as you are able to keep moving stuff forward, even just a few inches, this is what seems to separate great teams from the pack.

It's hard to tell how far you've gone when you're in the middle of the grind, but when you look back - it's always amazing to see how far you came. 

Here’s to a great start to 2023.