Selling is Baseball Backwards
Selling is Baseball Backwards
As I was watching one of the Atlanta Braves final spring training games, I got to thinking about how baseball players and salespeople use some similar terms and principles. Then it occurred to me how hard it is to score in the game of selling unless you apply some of them backwards.
For example, salespeople can track their batting average, or closing percentage. We do that by comparing the number of sales "pitches" to the number of sales, or "hits," we get.
Here's where it gets goofy. Once a batter earns a trip to first base, only THEN can they get a lead. Salespeople need the lead first. In fact, their batting average depends on a generous supply of good leads.
The truth is, many salespeople never become big hitters because they never get enough leads.
IN PRACTICE, LOOK FORWARD.
When leads are scarce, a salesperson can't become efficient and productive. They never get a chance to develop a rhythm and dial in their optimal sales approach.
In baseball, hitters take batting practice because they want to look at a lot of pitches. They know that the more opportunities they have to hit, the better they'll get. Their batting average will go up.
It's the same with salespeople. They need a lot of regular plate appearances to give them opportunities to swing away at incoming leads. The more leads you give them, the more effective they become. The batting average, or closing percentage, will go up. That means more revenue while cost of sales goes down.
ARE THEY ANY GOOD?
A lead is someone who has indicated they want your product or service. Handing your salespeople a page from the phonebook does not qualify as "providing leads."
Like a baseball pitch, an incoming lead has got to be hittable, or it's worthless. If you have the best salesperson in the world on your team but give them nothing but junk to swing at, you'll both get frustrated, and your potential Hall-of-Famer will leave.
Some leads will be "in the dirt" or otherwise out of reach. When salespeople only get a few leads to work with, they'll chase the bad ones, wasting time and energy. If your salespeople seem to be striking out a lot, check first to see if the leads they're seeing are over the plate.
SOMEBODY'S GOING TO PAY.
It takes time and money to generate good leads. You need to decide if salespeople should do it themselves, or if the company will do it for them.
Professional ball clubs invest in pitching machines because they know that sharp, well-practiced hitters will have a positive impact on the scoreboard. They provide the resources to make sure their players are ready to play at their best. When the game's on the line and it's time to put the bat on the ball, a few inches means the difference between a home run and a strike out.
When you invest in a lead generation system for your business, you let your salespeople do what they do best: sell!
FINAL SCORE: YOU WIN!
In baseball, a base runner can't get generous leads until AFTER they've gotten a hit. In sales, there's nothing backward about getting great leads first, and then expecting big hits from your salespeople. Invest in a generous supply of good leads, and your sales team will score more often. The next thing you know, you'll all be cashing big league pay checks.
Selling is Baseball Backwards - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Johnson's Website.
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© 2006 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.
As I was watching one of the Atlanta Braves final spring training games, I got to thinking about how baseball players and salespeople use some similar terms and principles. Then it occurred to me how hard it is to score in the game of selling unless you apply some of them backwards.
For example, salespeople can track their batting average, or closing percentage. We do that by comparing the number of sales "pitches" to the number of sales, or "hits," we get.
Here's where it gets goofy. Once a batter earns a trip to first base, only THEN can they get a lead. Salespeople need the lead first. In fact, their batting average depends on a generous supply of good leads.
The truth is, many salespeople never become big hitters because they never get enough leads.
IN PRACTICE, LOOK FORWARD.
When leads are scarce, a salesperson can't become efficient and productive. They never get a chance to develop a rhythm and dial in their optimal sales approach.
In baseball, hitters take batting practice because they want to look at a lot of pitches. They know that the more opportunities they have to hit, the better they'll get. Their batting average will go up.
It's the same with salespeople. They need a lot of regular plate appearances to give them opportunities to swing away at incoming leads. The more leads you give them, the more effective they become. The batting average, or closing percentage, will go up. That means more revenue while cost of sales goes down.
ARE THEY ANY GOOD?
A lead is someone who has indicated they want your product or service. Handing your salespeople a page from the phonebook does not qualify as "providing leads."
Like a baseball pitch, an incoming lead has got to be hittable, or it's worthless. If you have the best salesperson in the world on your team but give them nothing but junk to swing at, you'll both get frustrated, and your potential Hall-of-Famer will leave.
Some leads will be "in the dirt" or otherwise out of reach. When salespeople only get a few leads to work with, they'll chase the bad ones, wasting time and energy. If your salespeople seem to be striking out a lot, check first to see if the leads they're seeing are over the plate.
SOMEBODY'S GOING TO PAY.
It takes time and money to generate good leads. You need to decide if salespeople should do it themselves, or if the company will do it for them.
Professional ball clubs invest in pitching machines because they know that sharp, well-practiced hitters will have a positive impact on the scoreboard. They provide the resources to make sure their players are ready to play at their best. When the game's on the line and it's time to put the bat on the ball, a few inches means the difference between a home run and a strike out.
When you invest in a lead generation system for your business, you let your salespeople do what they do best: sell!
FINAL SCORE: YOU WIN!
In baseball, a base runner can't get generous leads until AFTER they've gotten a hit. In sales, there's nothing backward about getting great leads first, and then expecting big hits from your salespeople. Invest in a generous supply of good leads, and your sales team will score more often. The next thing you know, you'll all be cashing big league pay checks.
Selling is Baseball Backwards - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Johnson's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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