The best performers in golf and sales are not always the most aggressive. They're usually the ones making the best decisions consistently over time. And that's a lesson I continue to learn.
There's a moment in every round of golf where you stand over the ball and face a decision. Do you take on the hero shot? Or do you manage the course?
As a golfer playing off a single-figure handicap, I've realised this exact decision-making process exists in sales leadership too.
// The fork in the fairway
🏌️ Going for it
- 230-yard carry over water
- High-risk cut through trees
- Driving a par four on a whim
- Feels exciting in the moment
- Scorecard tells a different story
📐 Course management
- Playing to the fat of the green
- Taking the conservative line off the tee
- Leaving a simple putt, not a heroic one
- Feels less exciting
- Scorecard rewards you
Golf punishes impatience. In one of my recent competition rounds, I reflected afterwards that the difference between a good score and an average one wasn't ball striking. It was decision-making. A missed target here. An overly aggressive approach there. A short-sided chip because I attacked a flag I didn't need to attack.
Golf punishes impatience. Sales does too.
In B2B sales, especially in complex public sector environments, there's a constant temptation to go for it. Chase every opportunity. Bid for everything. Rush to demo. Push pricing too early. Try to close before enough trust exists.
It feels productive. It feels proactive. But often it creates volatility instead of sustainable growth.
The best salespeople I know think like experienced golfers. They understand positioning. They understand percentages. They understand that sometimes the smartest move is not the spectacular one.
At IEG Group, we work in long-cycle sales environments across local government and the NHS. Deals can involve multiple stakeholders, procurement frameworks, transformation agendas, finance teams, technical evaluators, and end users — all influencing the outcome simultaneously.
That's not a one-shot game. That's course management.
The strongest opportunities are built through smart positioning over time:
- Understanding the organisational strategy before engaging
- Mapping stakeholders properly, not just finding one contact
- Creating multiple relationships across the buying group
- Aligning to outcomes rather than leading with features
- Building trust before urgency exists
- Knowing when to attack — and when to play safely
A good golfer doesn't rely on one perfect shot.
A good salesperson doesn't rely on one relationship.
That last point matters most. Because there are moments where you should absolutely go for it — but elite performers know the difference between calculated aggression and emotional aggression.
⛳ On the course
- Wind helping, lie is perfect
- Confidence is high
- Tournament situation demands it
- The risk is genuinely worth the reward
💼 In the deal
- Customer has real urgency
- Political alignment exists across stakeholders
- You've multi-threaded effectively
- You've earned the right to push forward
That distinction changes everything. Calculated aggression — going for it because the conditions are right — is a high-percentage play. Emotional aggression — going for it because you want to, or because you're impatient — is how you make double bogeys and blow deals.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned from golf is that discipline often beats brilliance.
You don't need 18 perfect holes. You need fewer disasters. The same is true in sales leadership.
Many businesses don't fail because they lack talent. They fail because they chase too many poor-fit opportunities, spread resources too thinly, ignore qualification discipline, overestimate deal probability, or confuse activity with progress.
I've become increasingly interested in sales metrics and decision-making because of this. Probably because golf has conditioned me to think that way — the numbers don't lie.
- Ball speed and carry distance
- Spin rate and trajectory
- Strike pattern consistency
- Strokes gained per category
- Greens in regulation
- Putts per round
- Pipeline coverage ratio
- Conversion rates by stage
- Sales cycle length trends
- Multi-threading depth per deal
- Customer engagement levels
- Win rates by opportunity type
The data doesn't remove emotion entirely. But it helps you make smarter decisions. And smarter decisions compound over time.
// Final thought
The golfers who consistently score well are rarely the most reckless. The sales organisations that consistently grow are rarely the most chaotic.
Both understand risk management. Both understand patience. Both understand positioning.
And both understand that sometimes the best way to win is not by forcing the spectacular shot — but by repeatedly putting yourself in the right place for the next one.
That's course management. And in sales, it might be one of the most underrated skills there is.