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McGwire Finally Admited to Steroid Use in the Past
There is an interesting trend going on....come forward with your past transgressions, clean up your act and move on. America will forgive and move on too. It worked for Kobe Bryant maybe it will work for Mark McGwire.

Lesson #2: The Path to Success is to Pursue Your Passion
“I was just pursuing what I enjoyed doing. I mean, I was pursuing my passion,” says Omidyar. “It is not really work if you are having fun…that was the case with me.”

Lesson #4: In Following Your Passion, You Become Your Own Best Customer
How were they able to devote themselves day and night to manufacturing their mighty machines? Why were they so hell bent on ensuring the highest standards of quality? And what drove them to dedicate themselves to the same business for the majority of their adult lives? William Harley and the Davidson brothers didn’t just make motorcycles – they lived and breathed them. They were, in fact, their own biggest fans. It was in pursuing the one thing they were passionate about that they were able to create such a classic tale of entrepreneurial success in America.

Ron Joyce Quotes
Ron Joyce Quotes
Lesson #5: Do Not Waste Time Marketing Outside Your Target Audience
“If you take four street corners, and on one they are playing baseball, on another they are playing basketball and on the other, street hockey,” says White. “On the fourth corner, a fight breaks out. Where does the crowd go? They all go to the fight.”

Todd McFarlane Quotes
Todd McFarlane Quotes
Lesson #3: Build a Brand that will be Around Tomorrow
“I am not looking like Armani today and somebody else tomorrow,” says Lauren. “I look like Ralph Lauren. And my goal is to constantly move in fashion and move in style without giving up what I am.”

Is Canada the New China for VCs? Or Just the New Colorado?
Granted, it's a tiny market, but with the disappearance of most of the tax-advantaged venture capital firms from the Canadian market it's interesting to see that U.S. venture firms are increasingly driving things. There was 21% growth year-over-year in Canadian venture investment, but that was largely a function of the growing dominance of U.S. VCs in the Canadian market, with such firms now accounting for more than half of investment spending in Ontario, Canadian's largest venture market.
Two Important Qualities
There are a lot of similarities between business and baseball, and in ways they are interchangeable. I played baseball in high school and became captain of the team. I learned a lot about how teams can excel with the right leadership and with regard to the specific talents of each player. It was a great education.
Where Baseball Meets Business
Sometimes I think that we make business success all too hard! In most cases the basics are ignored in favor of the latest new and usually complex strategy, theory or latest best seller unveiling the new secret success silver bullets. But sometimes, most of the time in fact, if we just slow down and face the fact that the truth may be in the simplicity of the solution. Simple is not always easy. Simple is not always cool or flashy. But, SIMPLE works! In this article we'll briefly discuss 3 key rules that could become your benchmark for future personal and business growth.

The Impact of Coaching Salespeople and Sales Managers
Yesterday I presented at the Sales EdgeOne Three-Day Sales Summit and my co-presenter, Donal Daly, cited a statistic from Gallop: Organizations that use coaches get a 26% ROI from that effort. That statistic surprised me in two ways.

Salespeople Become More Effective Part 2
You must talk about Sales Process and, assuming it's been formally developed, structured, optimized and introduced, include it in every daily coaching and development call so that the backdrop for your conversations is "Where in the process are you?" In Baseline Selling, that would sound like "Which Base are you on?"
Sales Coaching is Like Baseball - How Do You Rate?
Really? Whiffle Ball in the back yard? Sandlot? Little League? Babe Ruth? High School? American Legion? College? Cape Cod League? Independent League? First Round Draft Pick? Signed by a Major League Team? High Minors? Cup of Coffee in the Bigs? Utility Player on a Major League Team? Every Day Player? All Star? MVP? Hall of Fame? When it comes to coaching, most sales managers have done the baseball equivilent of Sandlot - they messed around at it and had some fun.

This One Tip Helps Salespeople Close More Business
Make your solution ideal, both in terms of it being needs and cost appropriate, with no options, and if you did what you were supposed to do throughout the sales process you will make it easy for your prospect to make a quick decision.
The Magic of Jiffy Lube, Sales Adaptability and Plagiarism
Perhaps you've noticed that while driving past a Jiffy Lube during (slow times for them) your commute there may be a mechanic out front, holding a sign, offering a discount, hoping you'll pull in. I don't know about you, but I am not particularly moved by a guy in a jump suit waving for me to stop. But it made me wonder, does this work?

3 Strikes and Your Out - The Need for Sales Force Consistency
I place a higher value on consistency than I do on talent. I don't care how much potential a salesperson has. If they aren't performing the basics - consistently - then the talent is wasted.

Anatomy of a Million Dollar Producer
Do you have salespeople that aren't profitable, don't contribute enough to overhead, won't change what they're doing and simply aren't benefiting the company?

The Science of Selling - Rules versus Data
Regular readers know that I like to talk about the science of selling. I don't mean the science of the sales process, strategy and tactics, as much as the science of research, data and proof. There is a science to selling but a more appropriate name for it would be the rules of selling. In Baseball, the rules dictate what you do, when you do it and how it should be done. In Selling, the rules accomplish the same thing.
Kindle - Lessons Applied to the Sales Force
Readers who have purchased the Kindle have totally embraced that device. Some think it's the Kindle, not online sellers, that is the biggest threat to brick and mortar book stores. Read on for the lesson...
Sales and Sales Management Simplified
Let's get to the basics of sales and sales management and make it as simple as possible by using some of my favorite baseball analogies.

When it Comes to Compensation Sales is NOT like Baseball
So, the Red Sox have made some big moves in the past week, culminating with the monster signing of Carl Crawford for $142 million. The comparison between baseball and sales is the basis of my Baseline Selling method, but when it comes to compensation the two honestly don't have a lot of common ground.

No Matter How Big, or Small.
It was three nights ago, I couldn’t sleep, as is often the case on warm nights. New York in August feels like a wet blanket fresh out of the oven. It’s hard not to sweat just bending over. My fiancée had gone out to her parents for the night, and the quiet in the house was peaceful, but incomplete. Truth be told, I just can’t stand to be away from her. Television didn’t do it, 25 minutes of baseball highlights later, still restless. A few books I’m in the middle of didn’t provide any repose either. I wondered, why the unrest? An incessant pebble of anxiety was rolling like a marble through my stomach. It was 1:30am; I sat in my backyard trying to enjoy the serenity of the calm hot air, barely rustling a tree.
Sales is an Obstacle Course
If you sell, then you encounter obstacles every step of the way. There are the prospects you can't get through to, the same ones who don't return your calls, and those who offer so much resistance that the obstacle appears to be more like a road block than an obstacle. Then there are the obstacles of timing, competition, budget, and disinterest, along with using and happy with someone else, doing it themselves and bad experiences with your company or simply companies like yours. There is no selling without obstacles.

Salespeople and the Momentum Factor
Momentum seems to be a force when it comes to sales performance. When Bob gets on a roll, new opportunities fill the pipeline, move along fairly quickly and close at the first opportunity...until the momentum changes. When Bob goes on vacation, gets distracted, becomes busy with deliverables or gets sick, it's a whole different Bob.
Improve Sales Performance with More Effective Pipeline Management
I have written extensively about the sales pipeline. Here are a few examples:
Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion
Hiring salespeople is scalable until you get to a dilution point - very similar to the expansion that took place in baseball...
Selling In A Recession
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are going to the World Series this year. How in the world did that happen and what can salespeople learn from it.

Sales Statistics That Reveal Sales Effectiveness
You have salespeople like this! They have plenty of opportunities in the pipeline but very few of them get closed. Some of these salespeople are actually thought to be good closers because they close more new business than anyone else on your team. But are they closing more new business because they're effective closers, effective salespeople or because they simply have more opportunities than anyone else?
The Sales Management Equivalent to Baseball's Pitch Count
One friend suggested I find a way to correlate pitch count to sales. No problem. I am not a proponent of a sales manager doing the closing for his salespeople, however, should a two-call close cycle be on its fourth call; a six month sales cycle be in its tenth month, an exception is certainly called for. Or, if you consider a salesperson who is expected to perform certain levels of activity, who isn't meeting expectations, another exception might be called for.

REAL Teamwork: A Leadership Lesson from the Dugout
How can you avoid exhausting attitudes that drain mental energy and sour workplace successes? What's one simple analogy that can help support collaboration and cooperation? This quick and simple lesson "from the dugout" might help you and your team re-frame the big picture when it comes to accepting the nuances of being a team player.
Making it Easier for Your Salespeople to Succeed
This baseball story is a good example of how to change things so that salespeople who are struggling can enjoy greater success.
The Importance of Practice
How to become more proficient at sales by knowing what you should practice.
The Four Major Steps in Sales
By definition, a sale is the act of meeting prospective buyers and providing them with a product or service in return for money or other agreed upon compensation. A sale is an act of completion of a commercial activity. The "deal is closed", means the customer has consented to the proposed product or service by making full or partial payment (as in the case of installments) to the seller.
Using a Coach
Professional coaches aren’t just a perk for executives or athletes. Anyone with a strong personal commitment to achieving results can benefit from working with a coach.
Why You Should Keep Mum to Mom
Carefully consider who to listen to when considering a franchise purchase. For years you’ve listened to your mom’s sage advice: “Turn off the lights,” and “Save your money” Most of the time that advice was pretty good and many times you even followed it. Now don’t tell your mom I said so, but there’s one time when your mother’s advice may not help you and that’s when you are about to invest in a franchise opportunity.

Other baseball Related Articles

Winning is not an accident
As many of you already know I’m a bit of a sports enthusiast. Baseball & football are the sports I know the most about and I use many analogies, even with my clients who don’t care a lick about sports. After watching my local Baltimore Ravens team get their backsides handed to them by the New England Patriots, I couldn’t help but give credit where credit is due. Therefore, below is an excellent article by management consultant John Baldoni from the WHARTON CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT about the winning formula developed by Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. Unlike baseball, there is a salary cap in the NFL so you can’t buy championships. In the NFL you need solid leadership to win back to back championships as the Patriot’s have done and a third may be on the way.
RIPKEN BELONGS IN BRANDING HALL OF FAME
This summer Cal Ripken will be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame -- not so much for his baseball numbers as for the fantastic brand he created. Cal’s career batting average is not even close to .300, and he did not average more than 25 home runs or 100 RBIs a season. Yet he is one of the most popular, memorable, and marketable players of recent history. Why?
Shared Services Simplified or How Barry Bonds’ Bat Weight Explained GoC Thinking
I was recently asked to provide a contextual point of reference that would assist the uninitiated public in understanding the reasons why the GoC’s Shared Services program has become such a contentious issue. The Answer was Baseball! Rather than getting into a complicated dissertation of the differences between an agent-based model versus an equation-based model where the prescribed processes reflect and therefore adapt to stakeholder characteristics and objectives, I tried to think of what I would say to one of my sports fanatic friends. And it hit me, the answer is baseball!

Making it Easier for Your Salespeople to Succeed
This baseball story is a good example of how to change things so that salespeople who are struggling can enjoy greater success.
Baseball and Leadership
Baseball is a game that rewards the clever. As with adaptability, baseball games often hinge on the smallest and most ingenious plays. A pick-off at first base. A hit and run with two outs. A squeeze bunt. Leaders too will be rewarded for cleverness. Rather than simply replicating the results of predecessors or maintaining the status quo, the modern leader is required to seek different and creative methods and solutions.

Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion
Hiring salespeople is scalable until you get to a dilution point - very similar to the expansion that took place in baseball...
Lesson #3: The Boss Can Come Back
If there is one thing Steinbrenner is famous for besides his ability to manage a great baseball team, it is his ability to get himself into trouble. From being banned from baseball for life to feuding with and changing managers 20 times, Steinbrenner is no stranger to controversy. But what is even more remarkable, is his ability to bounce back and reclaim the team he worked so hard to promote.

Why Prospecting is Like Baseball
The reason I want to talk about why prospecting is like baseball is because I recently saw a quote by Mickey Mantle that struck home: "During my 18 years in baseball, I came to bat almost 9,000 times. I struck out over 1,700 times and walked over 1,800 times. That means I played seven years in the major leagues without even hitting a baseball."

Two Important Qualities
There are a lot of similarities between business and baseball, and in ways they are interchangeable. I played baseball in high school and became captain of the team. I learned a lot about how teams can excel with the right leadership and with regard to the specific talents of each player. It was a great education.
Baseball's General Managers versus Business' Sales Managers
You have one huge advantage over baseball General Managers though. Forward looking indicators. Except for observation, all of the statistics they use in baseball are lagging indicators.

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