Baseball Concepts for Business
I love baseball season! Although the status of Major League baseball was iffy for a while, Opening Day has finally arrived! Each year as the season gets underway, I’m reminded of some parallels between baseball and business. The following are a few ideas that come to mind:
Conditioning – Inevitably, at the start of each year, we hear about serious injuries that have impacted players. Often, the pundits will explain that these injuries are a result of the player not being “game ready”. A disciplined approach to pre-season and in-season conditioning is a must to stay healthy. Depending on the position, the conditioning workout will include some combination of weight training, running / sprinting, and stretching. All three components are vital to player health and game readiness.
Thinking about our businesses, do we have a disciplined approach to staying healthy? What are the components we must incorporate into the daily routines of our players (pre-sale, during the sale, and post-sale) that keep us off the injured reserve list?
Pre-sale workouts include a combination of networking, prospecting, and pre-qualification by Producers; and planning and goal setting by Owners / Managers. During the sale, we must build technical skills as well as interpersonal skills in order to effectively risk manage for our clients and build relationships with both clients and carrier personnel. After the sale, is where the discipline really pays off! We must continue to stay in the minds of our clients through a variety of pro-active account development techniques.
Equipment – When my son was younger, he was on every mailing list for every equipment provider known to man, inundating us with emails and catalogs for months. Baseball equipment is not inexpensive, so early on, he learned the value of maintaining his equipment! Each year he argued that he needed the newest technology to make the most of his skills. Sometimes, I bought the argument – and the newest equipment! But….as I told him, if you can’t make solid contact with the baseball, it really doesn’t matter what the bat is made of! The same thought can be applied in our offices.
New technology (equipment) is a must to stay current with our various constituencies and to run more efficiently. However, it’s just as important to care for and utilize our existing equipment to its fullest. Employing the most efficient workflows, implementing agency procedures, installing updates in a timely fashion, and conducting / attending training on a regular basis are all methods for keeping our “technology” current. Remember, it really doesn’t matter how great the equipment is if the “players” don’t know how to use it most effectively.
Teamwork – Watching a good ball club play is sort of like watching a ballet (I guess? – I’m not a big ballet follower!). Without saying a word, in many cases, the play is made, and positive results are achieved. Think about the third base coach signaling the batter and the base runner to execute a hit-and-run or a steal. Consider how the catcher communicates what type of pitch the pitcher should throw to a particular batter based on tendencies they’ve identified. Ponder how the pitcher communicates a pickoff attempt to the infield without tipping off the runner. Watch how a catcher signals to the field when there are base runners on the corners. Observe the various players moving into their backup positions depending on where a ball is hit. It’s interesting to see how these plays are executed, without a “huddle”, in most cases.
Now, let’s think about our offices. Are our personnel so well coached that each time there’s a client call, they know exactly where the play will be made and where their backup position is? Do the producers and service personnel communicate like pitchers, catchers, and infielders? Are producers confident that when they signal, the players will be in position? Even if you’re not much of a baseball fan, I think you can understand how working toward seamless, intuitive communication among our team members can breed tremendous results for the entire “club”. This begins with selecting the right players in the first place. Then, continuously training and coaching them to build their skill levels and play their positions.
Statistics – It goes without saying that we have to keep score to win. I’m always intrigued by the commentators, for any sport, that come up with the most obscure statistics. With baseball, statisticians track everything! Stats are how players are recognized and awarded scholarships, big signing bonuses, championship rings, golden gloves, and a plaque on the wall of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY!
We must keep stats in our offices as well! Without tracking a variety of statistics, how do we know when we’ve won? It might be revenue growth, “spread”, policy count, loss ratio, or share of market, but we must keep a variety of statistics to measure what’s getting done. If we are regularly reviewing the statistics – in the off-season and during the season – we can be prepared to re-tool our teams as needed or make trades.
Hopefully, this short article will help you take a fresh look at your organization. Consider conditioning, equipment, teamwork, and statistics and get game ready! Let’s play ball!
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About AVYST
AVYST eForms Wizard provides sales professionals with a digital solution to gather complete and accurate information at the point of sale. The ability to enter data once, directly onto digital eForms, minimizes errors and omissions. Learn more at www.avyst.com/go.
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