The New England Patriots and Sales Analysis

Some say the New England Patriots take competitive intelligence too far, but not Nate Bride. Here’s his fouth post in a week. Due to popular demand (his parents sure are convincing!), he will soon become a permanent member of our multitenant blog…

Ok. I will admit it. I love the NFL and I love the New England Patriots.  My two year old daughter also loves football and the patriots.  She cheers “Brady MVP”.  We watched every Patriots game together – she did have the occasional nap. My admiration has as much to do with the team’s preparation during the week as it does with their execution on Sundays.

The New England Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl this weekend. When they prepared for every game this year, they did not simply look at the “box score” of their opponents. They broke down and analyzed every play. They looked for trends on first down. They tried to find weaknesses in zone coverages. Belichick’s Pats would never consider simply showing up on game day to play. It was not simply Bill Belichick keeping this insight with a “business analyst” or the coordinators. He has figured out a way to distribute the analysis to every coach and every player - ensuring that the entire team is fully informed and on the same page.

I believe that a sales executive can seek the same level of perfection by looking deeper than the “box score” of revenue. Executives must analyze trends in their sales cycles.  Why did we win this deal? How does Q4 compare with Q4 last year? More importantly, every member of the team needs to access this sales analysis so they ALL can make the adjustments that drive more business. 

A question to all my readers (thanks Mom and Dad!) - How much would you invest in a perfect year for your company? I see what the Patriots have done and I wonder what a company would really need to do to achieve that same level of perfection.

posted by Darren Cunningham at 2:58 pm

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