Advice.

"They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball. And they tell you to hit it square." - Willie Stargell

Everyone has something to tell you, there are just a few "experts" out there who will share their knowledge about this, that or the other. Be wary. If it doesn't hit home with you, if it doesn't pass your personal smell test, if it just doesn't seem right in your gut, don't do it. Many opinions, tons of advice, instruction, suggestions, whatever you want to call these "experts", they are often just plain wrong.

Trust your instincts.

Conquer your fear. Fundamental #2.

"Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher." Ty Cobb

Are you fearful? Afraid of your customer? Their reaction to a situation? Are you afraid of your prospect, of them saying something and you won't know how to respond? Scared of cold calling? Nervous about asking about budget? Unsure and full of trepidation about how the next call will go, so you don't make it? Then call someone who you know will be nice to you instead? Agitated and apprehensive before your next presentation?

Before working yourself up, anticipating and predicting what horrible result there may be, take a step back. Ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen, really? In front of a large group, will your clothes suddenly fall off and you will be left standing there naked? Of course not. Might you stumble over a few words? Sure, probably will. Everyone in the room has done the same thing and if anything, empathizes with you. Remember, most clients who are looking to tear you down never have any intention of working with you anyway. But most are not. They are looking for help with their problem, and if you honestly believe you can assist them, all else will fall into place.

The ability to face the most difficult challenges head on is a separation between average and great. To attempt to conquer your fear, to make the difficult call, to ask the key uncomfortable question, to do what needs to be done even if it fills you with dread, that will make you better at your job, your life, your relationships. What is the worst that can happen? Will you find out information you did not know before? That is a good positive result, that you can use in your next conversation, with them or the next.

This is not a one time solution. This must be your mantra day in and day out, do what makes you uncomfortable. Do it and do it again. Do it over. Do it until it hurts. Do it until you learn how to do it better. Then find the next difficulty to face.

Play to win. What else is there?

"If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose. " - Derek Jeter

Many people hate the Yankees. Understandable. They seem to buy championships. They are often perceived as arrogant. But when you really take a look at the individual players, they impress you.Dedication to winning. The drive to win. The intensity, the desire. They buy the best players. They hire the best coaches and managers. They pour money into all areas of their team, from scouting to player devlopment and all their minor league teams. Every area is dedicated to winning. How many of us can say we work for a company like that?

Gotta have that Swagger....

“He plays hard and he's got a little bit of a swagger. A swagger can be a good thing for a club. Good teams always have a little bit of a swagger.” Lou Piniella

Swagger. Cockiness. Confidence. Bravado. But at what point does it get ugly? Smug? Arrogant? Braggart? Pretentious? Conceited?

"If you say you're going to do it, and you go out and do it, it ain't braggin." Dizzy Dean

Quite the fine line to walk. Balance your humility with your attitude, balance the modesty. Self depreciating humor never hurts. Being able to laugh at yourself and own your mistakes.

"If only I had a little humility, I would be perfect." Ted Turner

Obstacles. Problems. Hurdles.

"You have to go understand that life and baseball is littered with all kinds of obstacles and problems along the way. You have to learn how to overcome them to be successful in life." Dave Winfield

You will be faced with interference, from people to processes, from financial to bureaucratic. The struggle to succeed, to surmount the mountain in front of you. Some days will come easy, where all comes up roses. Smooth sailing and full steam ahead, wide open throttle to drive forward. But the rough waters, the iceberg in front of you, to achieve your goal you must also find a way around it. Or through it.

Will you do what needs to be done?

August 24, 1940 - Left fielder Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox pitches the last two innings in a 12-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Williams allows three hits and one run but strikes out Tiger slugger Rudy York. Joe Glenn, who caught Babe Ruth's last pitching appearance in 1933, is Williams'catcher.

So Ted Williams pitched in a pinch? Are you willing to do the same? Will you step up? Outside your comfort zone? To get something done, to do a task "that isn't my job."

Will you pitch in for the good of the team to accomplish the overall goal, setting aside your own personal fears or discomfort?

Will you make that tough call to the customer who hates your company? Will you make the collections call because the accountant cannot get anywhere? Will you load the shipment yourself? Will you go spend 3 hours at a government office to straighten out the paperwork? Will you do what needs to be done?

Fundamentals. Baseball. Sales.

What's a baseball fundamental? It's any baseball act that is so simple that the man in the stands thinks, "I could do that. Why can't those big leaguers?" Ken Singleton, Baltimore Orioles outfielder, 1980.

There are fundamentals in baseball, and truly in any sport. Vince Lombardi said "Some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist but football is only two things – blocking and tackling."

There are fundamentals in life, in love, in relationships and in business. Especially sales.

So what defines a sales fundamental? First, what is it not? It is not a novelty. It is not a gimmick. Not a trick, nothing new or profound, no style or approach that has never been seen before. It is an old standby, a tried and true method of securing solid relationships with the prospect/client/customer. What is the first and most important fundamental that you can not ignore.

1. Honesty. There is the well known cliche "Honesty is the best policy." Nothing could be more accurate and important in todays business market than being upfront, honest and direct with your clients. Tell people all your good points, your bad, your benefits, your detriments, all that could go wrong and right. While some people do tend to dance around what issues, problems or troubles their product or service may have, the customer sees it. They recognize it and they do not like it. The sense that you are more interested in the sale for your own gain, than for theirs. And that is why they do not buy from you.

Separation

Did you know that professional baseball games were illegal on Sunday in Philadelphia until 1934?

Not to get into any sort of religious arguement, and I won't go down the road of the separation of church and state. But definitely a separation of church and baseball, now that I believe in. What better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than watching a ballgame. Some of the older laws in this country frankly baffle me.

Own your conflicts

"The base paths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault." - Ty Cobb

Taking charge of a situation. Ownership of an issue or a problem. Setting expectations up front. Addressing conflict head on.

People get jealous or upset. Emotions flare and irrational thoughts bubble to the surface. People see not the truth but what they perceive to be true. Frustration sets it...misunderstandings prevail, running rampant. Approach the situation directly, tactfully, carefully, but do not let it fester or grow, as it will only get worse. Do not shy away from the conflict, address it carefully, with concern, empathy and compassion.

Motivation....

"Baseball is the very symbol, the outward and visible expression of the drive and push and rush and struggle of the raging, tearing, booming nineteenth century." Mark Twain

Relentless in effort, tenacity in spirit, the drive to achieve.

Time stands still

"Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive, and you have defeated time. You remain forever young." Roger Angell, author

A beautiful statement, eloquent and accurate.

We all say some funny things

"Yogi's been an inspiration to me--not only because of his baseball skills, but of course for the enduring mark he left on the English language. Some of the press corps even think he might be my speechwriter." - on Yogi Berra, George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

Humor and self awareness are key components to a good relationship builder. We all make mistakes, say something wrong, we do not all have a telepromter organizing our thoughts for us. We have to think on the fly and be ready for curve ball. Be aware of your situation and who you are speaking to. Adjust your mannerisms, yor speech, your dialog to fit their personality. But still, you will say some stupid things. It happens. Learn to laugh at yourself and not to take it all too serious. You will be better off and you will appear more human. More real. More genuine. People like people who make an occasional flub in their speech, it is endearing. Just move on and forget about it with a smile on your face and a laugh!

Demo Call Gone Wrong

So I signed up for a free trial of an online product, a subscription service. Of course, they rope you in by needing to speak with you first. I get it. Been there, done that.

The sales rep went through a process of his demo of his software to me. He did a decent job of casually extracting information from me to help make the demo more relevant. He was conversational, did not seem as if he was reading from a script. That was the good.

The bad. Well, he did not set expectations at the beginning of the call, especially with how long it would take. 30 minutes later, I was getting antsy to get on with my job. At which point he may have sensed it, and he tried to close me. Some sales manager taught him this assumptive close and he probably uses it on everyone, and his management probably wonders why he is not hitting his numbers. Without so much a question as to whether I felt it was the right product, whether it would be beneficial, without even a real conversation about how we could use the tool to save money make money or have a business reason to purchase it, he tried for 3 users at $5000. He didn't know if I was a decision maker. He did not know if I had authority to purchase. He did not know if I had a budget. He did not know if I even wanted it.

Probably the most ill timed closing attempt I have ever seen.

Penalize your customers - good move.

"5% resort fee is added to all purchases in Beaver Run Resort."

http://www.beaverrun.com/

Can you imagine if every business did this? Walk into a 7-11 and there is a sign on the door, "5% convenience fee is added to all purchases at 7-11." Or maybe the grocery store, below the King Soopers sign in small letters, "5% access fee is added to all purchases in King Soopers." How about at McDonalds in fine print at the drive through, "5% FFF (Fast Food Fee) is added to all purchases in this drive through."

Where does this come from? Why is it not built into the cost of their products and services, why do we have to pay an added fee? It may seem as if I am whining about a small amount of money, but it is not the point. I have to pay a fee to buy your product or service? You have the audacity to make me a pay a fee to do business with you? This definition seems to fit best: "A sum paid or charged for a privilege."

So I get to pay you extra money for the PRIVILEGE of doing business with you?

This is a penalty, a tax instituted by a private company on their customers. I am sure other resorts do it as well, but that does not make it acceptable. It is not the money - it is being required to pay a "fee" spelled out in black and white for any transaction I make with them. What if you do this with your customers, on the bottom of every quote you send to your clients? "A 5% fee is added to all purchases." How do you believe that would be received by your customers? In whatever business you are in, can you imagine? They simply have it backwards don't they? They should be paying a 5% fee to us for the privilege of providing their product or service to us, as we have other choices. Can you imagine if a business did that? At the bottom of your receipt you saw "A 5% customer appreciation refund is applied to all purchases. Thank you for your business." Now that would be impressive.

Poor customer service I can accept. Usually an individual employee can make a mistake, treat someone poorly, make an unfortunate choice along the way, but there can be reasons. A bad day for example, it happens to all of us. But a corporate decision to announce to their customers that they are charged an extra 5% for doing business with them. Well, I just won't go. Not again.

Dreamers

“I’m for the dreamers. the only really important things in history have been started by the dreamers. they never know what can’t be done.” - Bill Veeck

Dream big, dream often. Dream the impossible dream. I have a dream. Seems we have heard these cliches a thousand times right? But they do ring true, with some of the greatest accomplishments ever having started with someone's dream. Even the little dreams can have a tremendous impact on our lives. What are you dreaming of? WHat can you do today to make it closer toa reality? What step, what action, what questions, what conversations, what direction must you go?

At the end of today, will you have done anything to pursue any of your dreams?

Do you study, grow, learn from your mistakes?

"I always tried to learn about the hitters. Anytime someone got a hit off me, I made a mental note of the pitch. He'd never see that one again." - Christy Mathewson

Not difficult to figure this one out is it? Make a mistake? Make a note, don't do it again. Any opportunity you lose is not lost, for it is the knowledge gained that helps you NOT lose the next one.

The Lost Art of Follow Through

"It is the follow through that makes the great difference between ultimate success and failure, because it is so easy to stop."
Charles Kettering - Engineer and inventor

Two weeks ago I signed up for a free online database of information. I received a follow up call from them on Tuesday wanting to find ot more about us and my objectives as to why I signed up. Presumably they have additional services for a fee that he would like to pursuade me to buy. I was busy at the moment he called, but asked him to call back tomorrow at 3PM and I would love to talk about it. I truly was interested.

That was yesterday. Have not heard from him. What happened to follow up? What happened to follow through, doing what you say will do?

Admittedly he could have a valid reason. His kid could be sick, he could have gotten in a car accident at lunch. Who knows. But my guess is there is no reason. Either his lack of organization failed him, his CRM failed him or he just didn't do it. My guess is the latter.

Don't let this happen to you.

Technology

August 8, 1877 - After St. Louis catcher John Clapp has his cheek smashed by a foul tip, replacement Mike Dorgan goes behind the plate wearing a mask. This is perhaps the first use of a catcher's mask in an official National League game.

Ahhh technology. The use, development and progression of technology. In every industry it grows, changes, moves ahead to better protect us, help us, improve our efficiency and accuracy. Remember when the fax was such an innovation? Years ago, did you prospect out of the yellow pages? Who could have imagined the internet? Hoovers? Jigsaw? LinkedIn? Email?

Do you use it to your advantage? Or do you use it to waste time? Do you research? Or do you play? Do you know your customer before you call them, by spending the basic amount of time browsing a website or a profile? Or do you go in cold and blind, guessing and winging it? With the information at your fingertips, there is no excuse for not having basic understanding and knowledge of an account before speaking with them.

Tenacity

August 7 1907 - Walter Johnson pitched the first of his 416 victories, all for the Washington Senators during his 21 year career.

In many careers, the ability to continue to persevere through the difficult situations is what separates the successful from the mediocre. Stubborn is often considered a negative trait, but it can be just a refusal to surrender to adversity. Endurance. Determination. Professional dedication. Persistency is required in many occupations to achieve your goals. Certainly when dealing with colleagues or customers, you often walk a fine line between persistency and annoyance. T

After catching his 2226the game, Carlton Fisk said: "This record isn't something that just happened. It is more an example of endurance and perseverance."

Ambition

"I'm just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I've got to help my ball club win. I've never played any other way." Joe Dimaggio

How many of us can say the same about our approach to our jobs, our companies, our boss and our situation, even our home life? What a difference we would make, in our lives, in other's lives, in the world around us. An attitude prevails and catches, contagious, as you push yourself forward to be better, to win and never accept losing until the final out. Ambition of the successful. Ambition is the desire for achievement, and is often considered a selfish trait. With many people it can be, but if harnessed, focused, directed, you will achieve what you desire in the end. Focus on your client, ensure they are receiving what they need, what they want, what they must have for their own success. Direct your ambition to the company you work for, its success and growth. Focus on the love of your life, may they be the recipient of your ambition and provide them with what they need to be happy.

It will come back to you and your achievement, your success, your wealth will come to you from them and you will have earned it.

Obscurity...

Toiling away in obscurity. Quick, name the top 5 all time leaders of stolen bases in baseball. You may know some or most, #2 Lou Brock led the way with 938 until #1 Rickey Henderson came along and smashed it with 1406. #4 Ty Cobb Had 892 and was considered the most fearsome and fearless basestealer ever. A man from my generation, someone I watched play heer in Denver with the Denver Bears, #5 Tim Raines pulls up the back of the pack with 808.

So who is #3 you ask? The man who actually held the record with 912 official stolen bases from 1901 until Lou Brock broke the mark in 1979.

Today August 3, in 1888 Billy Hamilton stole his first base in the major leagues. Before returning to the minors in 1902, "Sliding Billy" totalled 912 stolen bases.

Most people have never heard of Billy Hamilton, even most baseball fans. Many of us are great at what we do, perhaps even the worlds greatest, but no one will ever know. Through some odd combination of work, persverence, sacrifice, luck, skill, contacts, relationships, education, networking, looks, talent, personality and probably a thousand other factors, some of us rise to the top. Dale Carnegie. Zig Ziglar. Brian Tracy. Tom Hopkins. There are many more.

But there are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of regular salespeople toiling away in relative obscurity that are excellent at their craft. Perhaps they do not want to leave their small town because of family. Perhaps they are comfortable with the small industry they are in because it just makes them happy. But they can be just as good as any of the others, just as thoughtful, just as motivated, just as talented.

It doesn't matter if no one has ever heard of you, you still may be the best at what you do.

Pride

"You can't be proud of what you don't do." Birdie Tebbetts, Cleveland Indians Manager 1963.

When you do succeed though, you should be proud. You should want to yell it from the rooftops, let everyone know. Not to be boastful, but to share your success, to help others understand why you succeeded. Your colleagues will be inspired or motivated, and your customers want to do business with someone who is doing well. Success breeds success, and there should never be any harm in letting the world know you achieved your goal.

Sometimes Numbers Do Lie

One day, Yankees PR Director Marty Appell included in the media notes all the categories in which Thurmon Munson led AL catchers. He also put that Munson was second among AL catchers in assists. That day, Yankees pitchers struck out seven batters. On every one, Munson dropped the ball, threw it to first for the assist, then gestured toward the press box.

This was taken from a great article about the Fisk/Munson rivalry in the 1970's by Peter Gammons: http://espn.go.com/gammons/s/0723.html

The point is, statistics and numbers can be made to look pretty, but aren't always oh so true. From sales figures to number of calls made, from phone time to closing rate, numbers can be skewed one way or the other to make someone look good, or bad.