Recently I listened to a podcast where a well-known sales guy talked passionately about his philosophy and tactics. He has a very successful business and gave mounds of concrete statistics and anecdotal evidence to support his claims. I loved it!
The next day I was reading a book by a well-known marketing guy. In it, he talked passionately about his philosophy and tactics. He has a very successful business and gave mounds of concrete statistics and anecdotal evidence to support his claims. I loved it!
The two are in complete disagreement with one another. Opposite approaches, comparable results.
#ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmm
It just goes to show that my long-held theory about sales and marketing being like baseball is still a decent one if I do say so myself (and I do!).
Here it is:
There are no 1.000 batters. Even the best of the best only hit around .300 lifetime. And what works against one pitcher in one context may not work against a similar pitcher in a different context. It’s all about averages and possibilities and principles in context. Batters have to learn the PRINCIPLES of good hitting and apply them as consistently as they can, but they also have to be willing to pay attention to context and to adapt on the fly, knowing that even with the very best tools and training, they’re still going to strike out a LOT.
That sounds an awful lot like sales and marketing to me.
Sounds an awful lot like life, even.
Guess I’ll just keep swinging and keep looking for tiny ways to learn and improve.
