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In his mind he would see and hear the club head making perfect contact with the ball.
He would watch the ball make a perfect flight down the centre of the fairway, resting in the exact position to make the ideal approach to the green. Guess what, no doubt he had the perfect lie as well!
Now that's visualisation and the success it can help bring. A valuable lesson we can all learn from.
It also reminded me of a guy I used to work with, Pete. He too believed (as I do) in the power of visualisation. A couple of times a year we used to have a company golf outing and this year I was partnered with Pete. I agreed to pick him up early so we could get to the event in plenty of time.
He loaded his gleaming clubs into my car but before taking a seat he took a half shaft of a golf club from his bag. I was puzzled. It just had a grip and part of the shaft - no club head! Odd I thought so I asked, "What's that for Pete?" To which he told me that he liked to practice his grip before playing and would use the time in the car to work on it before we arrived at the course.
Wow, I thought. That's dedication! Anyway, we were standing on the tee and Pete was up. Approaching the ball, he took three practice swings and then stood back. Like the great Jack Nicklaus he began to visualise the shot, it's perfect flight and exactly where it would land. After three more practice swings and a slight adjustment of his grip - Pete was ready.
Whack!! 50 yards straight into the trees! He did the same thing for 18 holes! Having spent more time looking for his ball than concentrating on my game, by hole 7 my round and nerves were in tatters. On the tee of hole 8, I asked Pete, "Pete, had much golf this year?" Turned out that the last time he had played was the same event last year!
Ah, so may we be beginning to see the potential problem here? Perhaps. While we would all agree that visualisation works in any walk of life including selling, it will not work if you don't practice your skills. Make the calls. Make mistakes, learn from them, make corrections and improve.
How many practice balls do you think Jack Nicklaus has hit in his career? Millions. So he didn't become successful by chance. Gary player once said, " The more I practice, the luckier I get." And that is also true for sales. You have got to make the calls, practice you skills, then make them better. As you practice the skills will come more naturally. You'll be able to trust your swing.
If visualisation we all you needed to be successful - I'd have the perfect six-pack!
