Tympani

“Moira, the only thing that sells baseball tickets is a winning team.”

—Atlanta Braves Ticket Manager, 1985

I can still hear his raspy voice, after listening to my pitch on increasing sales for our (losing) hometown team. It was an Ah Hah moment for this baby salesperson. I took the gentle slap down with grace and I parked his comment in my brain forever.

But now?

I know with surety that anything can sell if you find the right people with the right need and they believe you can fulfill that need—profitably and continuously for all involved.

Yes, you just have to deliver on that promise, adapting services and products constantly to meet the market. No sitting down on the job. But besides the obvious stuff (quality, price, service)—you have to believe. In fact, your entire team has to believe, including your marketing and tech partners, too.

PS I landed a crazy job for the Braves and comped w/tickets. 7th heaven for my family and friends. Braves fan forever.

Gotta a Match?

1 + 1 = a gillion

Do you remember when Band-Aid^® first partnered with Neosporin^®? I certainly do. Some genius realized the two products married together would be magical. Totally blew my mind. I know, I know. Companies have been doing this forever but this one really made so much sense that it was shocking that it hadn’t been done before.

Co-branding has accelerated over the years with so many highly successful ventures (GoPro and Red Bull—and that jump from the space pod! The NBA and Beats by Dr. Dre! Score!). But beware of the mismatches (who thought putting Shell’s logo on Legos was a good idea?). Marrying brands is so exciting—almost intoxicating. Sounds so sexy but not a walk in the park.

The first and foremost consideration of co-branding decisions: the depth and quality of your database. The Who, What, When, Where and How Often of your database.

‘Nuff said—for now.

OPM

Other People’s Money.

My definition of OPM: Having something to sell/could be sold that is of so much value to someone else that that someone else is willing to pay for you to do it.

It’s exhilarating to create/participate in these ventures for so many reasons. Cutting the deals are one thing—delivering on the promise requires a specific suite of tools and technology to keep all the players in the loop—the happy loop—at all times. With so many bosses at the top, and so many layers below, each with different needs-to-know—holy smokes!

How to get it started and then keep it going is a wondrous thing to behold. No, I really am serious! Understanding the WIIFM (not going to tell you as you really should know that one…) for each audience from top to bottom, and then working the messaging, the cadence, the legal and compliance issues, training, and performance measurement…absolutely exhilarating.

These OPMs can be satisfying partnerships. Frankly, I think the sales and marketing stuff is the easy part. It’s your tech and data savvy that does the heavy lifting.