Yes, I know the Packers Lost...

The big game is this Sunday.

There’s a reason this Vince Lombardi image has endured for decades.

“Gentlemen, this is a football.”

It wasn’t an insult. It was a reset.

Lombardi wasn’t talking down to professional athletes. He was reminding them that greatness is built on mastery of the basics. Not flashy plays. Not complexity for complexity’s sake. Fundamentals, executed with discipline, consistency and purpose.

That lesson applies directly to training a multi-media broadcast sales team.

At RAB when we talk about fundamentals in sales, we’re not suggesting anyone is inexperienced, outdated or “back to square one.” Quite the opposite. The best professionals revisit the basics more often than anyone else, because they know that under pressure, people don’t rise to the level of their ambition; they fall to the level of their training.

In media sales, fundamentals are not simplistic. They’re timeless.

They’re things like:

• Truly understanding the client’s business before proposing solutions.
• Asking better questions instead of rushing to pitch.
• Translating audiences into outcomes, not just ratings into spots.
• Showing up prepared, curious and credible.
• Following up with intention, not habit.

These aren’t beginner skills. They’re elite skills.

Great teams don’t move past fundamentals. They go deeper into them. They refine them. They execute them at a higher level, even as the industry, technology and client expectations evolve.

In fact, as tools become more advanced and platforms more complex, fundamentals matter more, not less. AI, data, digital extensions, attribution and cross-platform strategies only work when they’re built on strong consultative selling habits. Without fundamentals, complexity becomes noise.

This is where greatness starts.

Not because we’re stripping things down, but because we’re strengthening the foundation everything else rests on. When fundamentals are solid, confidence grows. When confidence grows, conversations change. And when conversations change, results follow.

Lombardi didn’t win championships by inventing new rules. He won by demanding excellence in the basics, every single day.

That’s the spirit behind focusing on fundamentals in sales training. It’s not about going backward. It’s about going forward with clarity, discipline and purpose, knowing that the strongest teams are built from the ground up.
Greatness doesn’t start with complexity. It begins with fundamentals, done extraordinarily well.

Think Big, Make Big Things Happen!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com . You can also connect with him on X , YouTube, and LinkedIn .