Thursday, February 28, 2019
Fun Facts about Toilets
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Can you imagine life without toilet paper? Just thinking about it makes you feel nervous, right? Some people find talking about toilets quite disgusting, but there are actually many interesting facts about them. Here are some:
Photo by Renee Verberne on Unsplash
What did people use before toilet paper was invented?
Well, what you used for your personal bathroom needs before the invention of toilet paper depended to some degree on your social status and your geographical location.
If you were wealthy, then you might use wool, or a soft – and washable – rag. The Ancient Romans used sponges on sticks and then soaked in water.
If you were not so well off, then the most common thing to do was simply to grab a fistful of grass, leaves or straw to do what needed to be done.
In some parts of the world, going to the toilet always meant just going to the nearest river or stream and letting the current carry the waste away. Any wiping was done just by hand. That is why in India and some parts of the Middle East it is considered offensive to eat or pass food at table with your left hand – because that’s the one that you would use in the river.
In many European countries today, the use of toilet paper is considered dirty and unhygienic. In these countries the most common practice is a thorough, soapy wash and rinse afterwards using a ‘bidet.’ This is a sort of low basin with hot water tap and soap that you sit on and is usually placed next to the toilet for convenience. Source: Owlcation
Are toilets really dirty?
Contrary to popular belief, the toilet seat is the cleanest part in the bathroom since most people take great care to ensure its clean before sitting on it, according to University of Arizona microbiologist Charles Gerba. The bathroom door handle is also a less germ-infested part, since bacteria cannot thrive on cold, dry surfaces for long. Source: MSN
How do most people put the toilet paper on the holder?
Over $100,000 US dollars was spent on a study to determine whether most people put their toilet paper on the holder with the flap in front or behind. The conclusion: three out of four people have the flap in the front. Source: PlayBuzz
Are you surprised about some of the facts above? If you enjoyed this, then you should check out other articles here on our blog. We also offer the latest toilets available on the market – browse our website for options!
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Harper’s Value
When Manny Machado signed his deal with the Padres, my rough calculation indicated that Machado received about $10 million per expected WAR over the life of the deal. Using the same calculation, averaging the fWAR and rWAR over the last three seasons, Bryce Harper does even better, coming in at $11 million per expected WAR.
Like Machado, Harper’s value is tough to pin down. FanGraphs has him at 11.3 WAR during the last three seasons, while Baseball Reference pegs him at 7.5 WAR. So his average is 3.13 WAR per season. I give him that for the next four years, then nine season taking it down 10% a year. The total comes in at 29.8 expected WAR.
I suspect both the Padres and Phillies see these two players as getting a bit better over the next two seasons, so by their calculations, they may be paying $9 million per expected WAR. that would mean they expect 33 WAR from Machado and 36 WAR from Harper.
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The Hall of Fame Contract
Bryce Harper reaches a deal with the Phillies for 13 years.
“We had average values of $45 million offered on shorter-term deals,” Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, told the New York Post. “We had a full buffet.”
MLB Network was the first to report that Harper and the Phillies were closing in on an agreement.ESPN.com
“The goal was to get the longest contract possible,” Boras told the Post. “Bryce wanted one city for the rest of his career. That is what I was instructed to do. It is very difficult in this time to get length of contract that takes a player to age 37, 38, 39.”
I suspect a guarantee of playing time, rather than stability of place might be the bigger consideration here. Accumulating counting is a great way to get into the Hall of Fame, and that is easier to do if one plays for a long time. Harper will play through his seasonal age 38 season, barring a career ending injury. He’ll play in a park that is good for home runs, and Harper slugged .564 at Citizen’s Bank Park in his career. He is likely to put up big numbers for a long time, and Philadelphia should be a good place for that.
The Phillies have now assembled a pretty impressive team. The NL is looking really good, with the exception of the Marlins and the Giants. All three divisions are going to be tough to call.
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Rubby Returns
Rubby De La Rosa hit 99 MPH on his return to the mound 18 months after a second Tommy John surgery. Note that in 2017 his fastball averaged 97 MPH. That’s a pretty impressive second surgery.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019
The Coming Sales Talent Crisis, Part 2
I wrote The Coming Sales Talent Crisis, focusing on the struggles our customers face in their buying journey. We are all painfully aware of the struggles they face in solving problems and buying. We know that less than 50% result in a buying decision.
We know our customers need help-less in understanding our products and solutions, but in helping them navigate their buying process. This process is complex. Helping our customers requires new sales skills. The traditional solutions and consultative selling skills become table stakes. But new skills, including, curiosity, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, facilitation, project management, and resource orchestration become significant in helping our customers navigate their buying journeys.
As I discuss these scenarios with sales leaders, I’m often confronted with the argument, “How can we afford to invest in developing these skills in our people, if they are only going to stay with our company 15-22 months?”
They are referring to the data that we see about the revolving door of sales talent we see in too many organizations.
Since I’ve been writing this blog, we’ve seen a downward trend in sales and sales manager tenure. Several years ago, the average tenure of a sales person was 29 months, now the data shows it in the 15-22 month range. Other research shows that we are turning over our sales organizations every 3-4 years!
Recently, I spoke to a senior executive of a multi-billion enterprise. He cited voluntary/involuntary sales attrition of 42%!
Many people I speak with claim, “This is the current reality, after all we all know that millennials will not stay in any job very long….. Why should we continue to invest if they are just going to leave?”
The data is disturbing, if we accept it as the way things must be, one clearly would begin to despair about the future of our sales organizations and question the investments we must make to engage our customers in helping them solve their problems.
But, clearly, this problem starts with sales management and leadership. It’s a problem we and our companies have created, and it’s one we continue to aggravate—not maliciously, but in our lack of attention to the critical role of people–talent–in executing our strategies with our customers.
Some thoughts:
We fail to recognize each sales person, regardless of level, is a multi-million dollar investment. If we were purchasing a million dollar capital asset or making a million dollar investment in software tools, we would study, analyze, and evaluate the investment, the risk, the ROI, and the alternatives critically. We would involve others in that assessment.
Yet, too often, we treat our sales hiring very cavalierly. We hire based on the basis of chemistry. We interview casually, without deep competency models to assess fit, we don’t assess, test, and understand what we need. We take the best of those we have interviewed rather than matching them to what we need. Too often, I hear managers say, “If this person doesn’t work out, I can just replace him with someone else!”
Yet, these people investments are multimillion investments. It’s not the hiring, onboarding, and sunk compensation costs that kill us; it’s the opportunity cost. It is the lost opportunity that we have through open positions, through inexperienced or hiring the wrong person. It’s the opportunity we lose because we don’t continue to invest in developing the capabilities of our people. It’s our customers choosing to buy from someone else because of the inability of our sales people to engage them in meaningful ways.
High turnover, failure to recruit, develop, and retain the right people results in millions in lost opportunity.
In past decades, too many leaders, not just sales, have a tremendously cavalier attitudes toward people. People have become widgets, much like inventory, or other items. We ramp them up or down, based on projected business needs. Too often, there is little loyalty to our people, yet we expect their loyalty–but are surprised when we fail to get it.
The high churn, voluntary or involuntary, is, largely, a result of what we as managers and leaders have created. We’ve created an unhealthy dynamic where we don’t value people, they don’t value working with us–all costing millions in opportunity costs!
The challenge for leaders is that we have to create work environments where people want to work. We need workplaces that attract and retain the best people, we need to invest in training, developing, coaching them. We need to create work that is meaningful. We need to create work environments that challenge, develop, allow people to grow and contribute, and which make them want to stay.
This problem is not just limited to our people, it extends throughout management, as top leaders, we have to start to recognize the tremendous cost and lost opportunity our organizations face in not recognizing talent—people–as the ultimate differentiators in our success.
I don’t mean to condemn managers and leaders in this, I don’t mean to imply any maliciousness in behaviors. I think this is more a crisis created by inattention, lack of understanding, or lack of experience. It’s created by the focus on the day to day, never taking the opportunity to step back, think and reflect on those things that are critical to growth and sustained performance excellence.
There are many organizations that recognize the importance of talent, that are investing in their people and leaders. They are creating workplaces where people seen their contributions are valued, where they continue to learn, develop, and grow. These organizations will far outpace their competition and differentiated themselves, less because of their products, but more because of their people.
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Shower vs. Bathtub
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Contemplating whether you should put a bathtub or a shower in your bathroom? Here are some factors to consider:
Photo by Karla Alexander on Unsplash
Who will use the bathroom?
Think of either the people in your household or your potential buyers. Young, busy couples tend to prefer walk-in showers over tubs. The same is true for many elderly and disabled individuals because walk-ins are easy to get into and out of; however, these homeowners tend to prefer a place to sit and railings for safety and ease. Although, it would be difficult for parents of babies and toddlers to manage bath time in a shower.
If you are looking to age-in-place, a shower is a good investment. If you are planning to start a family, make sure you have at least one tub.
Baths in a master suite are usually only used by adults. If you plan to keep or install a master bathtub, consider deep, stand-alone models. These provide a luxurious option for those who like to soak in comfort. There are models for every aesthetic, easily incorporated into modern, rustic and antique designs. You can even look for varieties with jets or internal heaters that help keep the water warm. Source: TheSpruce
Which is more environmentally friendly?
Showers beat baths from an environment standpoint so long as you aren’t taking a very long shower, Grist reported earlier this year.
The best way to conserve water is to use a water-saving shower head, which uses no more than two gallons of water per minute. A 10-minute shower will put you at only 20 gallons on average to get clean through this method.
The average bath uses 36 gallons to fill a tub, while the average shower (without the water-saving device) uses five gallons of water per minute, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
You can make it snappy and rinse off between five and seven minutes with a regular shower head, or go a bit longer with a water-reducing nozzle instead. Source: HuffPost
Does the bathroom have enough space?
Space is at a premium in the average bathroom, which often measures just 5 by 8. While a standard tub measures 30 inches wide, it can be as long as 72 inches, according to This Old House, while stand-alone showers range from 36 by 36 inches to 36 by 48. This smaller footprint allows a shower to fit much more readily in a small bathroom than a tub, freeing up space for other features. Eliminating the tub in favor of the shower also allows homeowners to incorporate a larger, spa-like shower rather than the standard enclosure, while still utilizing less space than the average bathtub. Source: HomeGuides.SFGate
If at this point you’re still undecided on which to get, we can help you pick what works best for your bathroom. Call us today!
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Slow Worker
Masahiro Tananka comes out against the pitch clock. Why?
NYPost.com
According to FanGraphs, Justin Verlander was the slowest between pitches among those who qualified with a 27-second clocking last year. Tanaka, who didn’t qualify among statistical leaders, was also at 27.
Tanaka, and likely Verlander, work slowly because they feel that gives them the best chance of doing well. This is why I have suggested incentives for working quickly, rather than than penalties for working slowly. Pay players to play quickly, and use the level of payment to get the pace needed. Since we can measure the time between pitches now, it should be easy to implement.
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Tuesday, February 26, 2019
3 Ways to Lower Blood Pressure
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Don’t let hypertension defeat you. Manage this condition by consistently following these important tips:
Photo by Regular exercise
Exercise is one of the best things you can do to lower high blood pressure.
Regular exercise helps make your heart stronger and more efficient at pumping blood, which lowers the pressure in your arteries.
In fact, 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as running, per week can help lower blood pressure and improve your heart health.
What’s more, doing even more exercise reduces your blood pressure even further, according to the National Walkers’ Health Study.
Bottom Line: Walking just 30 minutes a day can help lower your blood pressure. More exercise helps reduce it even further. Source: MedicalNewsToday
Reduce salt intake
We need sodium to live, but too much salt leads the body to hold on to more fluids and that causes volume changes inside blood vessels. Over time, blood pressure rises.
“The problem is, salt is everywhere,” Haythe noted.
“It’s not just the salt that you add with the shaker,” Blankstein added. “Most of the sodium we get in our diet is found in various processed foods — things like canned soups, chips, cold cuts, pickles and even bread.”
He recommended consuming less than 2 grams (2,000 mg) of salt — or less than one teaspoon — a day for people who are trying to lower their blood pressure. That can be very effective, he said. Source: Today
Relax in a sauna
Studying more than 1,600 middle-aged men in Finland, researchers found that those who took sauna baths four to seven times a week cut their risk of high blood pressure by nearly half, compared to once-a-week sauna bathers.
“Sauna bathing may decrease systemic blood pressure through different biological mechanisms,” said study researcher Jari Laukkanen, a professor at the University of Eastern Finland, and colleagues.
In the sauna, your body temperature rises, widening the blood vessels. Over time, this appears to improve the function of the inside layer of blood vessels, the researchers explained. Sauna baths also remove fluid from the body through sweating, and relax the body and mind, the researchers added. Source: WebMD
You have many options to choose from when it comes to lowering your blood pressure. But out of all your options, nothing beats the ease of relaxing in a sauna. If you don’t have a sauna yet, today is the best time to get one. Give us a call!
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Arenado Windfall
The Rockies reached a deal with Nolan Arenado on a record setting contract:
NYPost
Nolan Arenado and the Rockies are finalizing an eight-year contract extension worth $260 million, The Post confirmed, which would make the outstanding third baseman the owner of the highest average salary of any position player in baseball at $32.5 million. The deal includes an opt-out after three seasons and a no-trade clause, ESPN reported, and replaces his final, record-setting payday for an arbitration-eligible player of $26 million this season.
Good for Arenado. FanGraphs has him at 16.4 WAR over the last three seasons. While some are seeing this setting the bar for a Bryce Harper signing or a Mookie Betts extension, the real beneficiary might be Anthony Rendon who posted 17.3 WAR over the last three seasons. The Nationals might need to go $320 million for eight years to keep him.
Arenado would have been worth around $305 million as a free agent, at $9 million per WAR. The Rockies did not get that much of a discount.
Looks like the NL West is where the money is. We’ll see if the Giants can counter with a Harper signing.
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Kershaw Watch
Clayton Kershaw threw Monday and didn’t feel great. It looks like an MRI will be in his future. I understand avoiding an MRI if possible, because the injection of contrast puts one out of action longer that just waiting for inflammation to heal on its own. We will see how this goes.
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Monday, February 25, 2019
Our Numbers Aren’t Laws Of Physics!
We tend to think of the Laws Of Physics as fundamental truths about how things behave.* For example, F=M x V (Force is equal to Mass times Velocity). We always calculate force using this formula, it is universal. These Laws represent fundamental behaviors of objects and very predictable properties.
Somehow, we seem to treat many of the numbers we use in sales and marketing as “fundamental and unchangeable truths.” We accept them, we accept the mathematical relationship, and all our behaviors are driven by those relationships.
We have all sorts of metrics we look at: Pipeline coverage, win rates, average transaction value, sales cycle, prospect to qualify ratios–treating each as fixed, developing our numbers and strategies based on the math.
The SaaS world has developed their on special version of these fundamental productivity numbers, creating a litany of acronyms: CLV, CAC, ARPU, MRR, ARR, ACV, Churn and on and on. We even create ratios of ratios attributing great value to those.
And we have all sorts of marketing metrics including, Visits, click through rates, response rates, download rates, dials, connects, meetings, MQLs, SQLs, SALs, ABCDEFGs…..
As managers, we track all sorts of things, including, % of People at Quota, MTD/QTD, YTD Quota Attainment, CPOD, Voluntary/Involuntary Attrition, Ramp to Productivity, as well as all the previous numbers.
I don’t want to diminish the importance of many of these metrics, they are important in tracking performance and helping us identify problem/opportunity areas.
But the problem is that we accept these numbers, particularly the ratios, as given and unchangeable. They become, perhaps, the “Unchangeable Laws of Selling/Marketing.”
As a result, the usual answer to driving growth or higher levels of performance, is simply doing more. If we want to grow sales, if we want to grow marketing leads, the answer is to do more–because, after all, the ratios are fixed, unchangeable–laws of selling and marketing.
Managing to the numbers this way, works until it doesn’t, but takes no talent or insight. All you need to do is open the calculator on your phone, or pull of your shoes and socks, counting on your fingers and toes.
Yet this is how most managers and sales people manage to the numbers!
Imagine if we started challenging these laws of sales and marketing. What if we increased our average transaction value? What if we reduce our sales cycle? What if we increase our win rate? What if we increased the relevance of our marketing outreach? What if we reduced voluntary and involuntary attrition?
Thinking about these basic numbers and relationships, figuring out how to tilt them in our favor drives tremendously different views of what is possible, and how to better hit our goals.
As we do this, we then think, “How do we make this happen?” This forces us to look at the fundamentals of what drive performance, and how do we do the things that help us most effectively improve performance.
Our jobs as managers is not to accept the numbers and ratios as “given,” hoping to achieve our goals by driving volumes. We are responsible for understanding what drives these results and what might we do to change them, tilting things in our favor.
The Laws of Sales/Marketing are not fixed, they aren’t laws at all, just arithmetic calculations.
What are you doing to drive performance? What are you doing to understand what is driving the results you and your people produce? How are you tilting the numbers in your favor?
Afterword: Some will recognize this post as a variant of the effectiveness/efficiency discussion. Too often, we focus on efficiency, where we need to first focus on effectiveness.
*The physicists or similarly minded people will correctly claim the laws of physics aren’t absolutely absolute…please grant me some literary license.
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The Hicks Deal
Aaron Hicks received a $70 million dollar extension from the Yankees:
Hicks, who received a $2 million signing bonus to go with the $6 million he was already set to make this year, gets $10.5 million from 2020 to 2023 and $9.5 million in 2024 and 2025. There is a $12.5 million club option for 2026 and a $1 million buyout. Hicks doesn’t have a no-trade clause, but if dealt he would collect $1 million.
NYPost.com
Hicks might well earn that money in the first three or four years if he continues to play well. I wonder if the Yankees are basically paying for that, but spreading the money out over a longer period to keep their overall salary level down. Hicks isn’t a good player in the traditional sense, with a rather low batting average. He does a good job of getting on base and hitting for power, and it’s good to see those accomplishments recognized.
Jay Jaffe has more at FanGraphs.
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Our Customers Include Microsoft, Google, Siemens….
Daily, I’m inundated with emails, InMails, phone calls from sales people trying to catch my attention. Inevitably, at some point, a reference is made to the customers of the company that is trying to sell me something.
They always are the names of some of the largest, most respected or envied organizations in the world. Somehow, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Siemens, Citigroup, SAP, Amazon, and others are always cited.
Or sit in a conference room as a sales person goes through their deck pitching you. The “corporate ego” slides always include the “logo” slide. Usually it’s the third or fourth slides (after the how big we are, how many locations we have, and how wonderful we are slides). Again, these logos are intended to impress. (Often, though, I wonder how the same companies can be everyone’s biggest customers….)
These are always brought up to impress me. I am impressed, many of the same companies are our clients, I know how challenging it is to sell to them.
At the same time, since these people are trying to sell to me, my reaction is “So what, why do I care, what does it mean to me?”
The problem with those references is their businesses, their strategies, their challenges are very different than those we face. They are just challenges of scale, but they are in very different businesses than ours.
I wonder why sales people choose those when selling to my company or selling to some of my clients (When I’m sitting in meetings at SAP, the fact that Oracle uses a product isn’t necessarily a great reference.)
While these references are intended to impress, they are actually unimpressive. What the sales person is demonstrating is he doesn’t understand me and my company, he doesn’t understand our goals, strategies and challenges. It demonstrates he hasn’t even taken the time or had the sensitivity to think about what might be relevant and meaningful to me and my organization.
When I see an email citing those, it’s immediately junked–the sender has proven they don’t understand our business and have made no attempt to be relevant to us. When I sit in a meeting where a sales person is trying to impress me with these names, I stop the meeting (which saves a huge amount of time, since these ego slides are always the third or fourth slide.).
Engaging our customers is all about relevance and connecting with them on the issues most important to them. We demonstrate our credibility, sensitivity, and understanding when we tell stories or cite references that are meaningful and relevant to them.
I respect these gigantic corporations and their success. I respect organizations that have these as customers. But the fact they are customers isn’t meaningful in my buying decisions so stop it!
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The Big Guns
MLB.com reports that the Dodgers are in play for Bryce Harper. The Dodgers likely can outbid anything the Phillies or Padres offer. They also are more likely to win a championship this year.
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Sunday, February 24, 2019
Preller’s Pitch
A.J. Preller appears to have given the motivational speech of the century:
He spoke of purpose, with purpose.
He told them they are all here for a reason, all have a role to play, all were selected by the Padres to accomplish something great and accomplish it starting now.
“It showed he believes in every single person he put in this clubhouse,” reliever Craig Stammen said. “We just didn’t get here randomly. Sometimes you feel that way, especially the last couple years where we’re just rebuilding and rebuilding. You look around and say, ‘Well, why is everybody here? Why is Craig Stammen in the locker room? Was it because they need somebody on the team? Did they just need to fill a roster spot?’ But him talking (Friday) showed he legitimately put effort into putting every single one of us in this clubhouse for a reason.”SanDiegoUnionTribune.com
Players who at first were wondering what was happening — and why — were amazed by the depth and breadth of the GM’s knowledge.
This bit struck a chord:
Said catcher Austin Hedges: “It meant more because he doesn’t do it.”
Harry Parker coached Harvard Crew for 50 years. He was easily the greatest crew coach ever, and maybe the greatest coach in the history of college sports. He only spoke when needed, and because his words were so rare, his athletes hung on every word. Preller took a page from that book on Friday.
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Incentives to Win
J.D. Martinez understands the solution to the perceived free-agent problem:
“We just gotta go to the drawing board,” Martinez said. “The Players Association comes, sits down with the CBA, and we gotta figure out how we’re going to counter it. The game has to change. We have to incentivize to win, not to lose.”Boston.com
This has been the problem since the start of revenue sharing. Teams that use their money effectively should be rewarded. Wins are tangible. Attendance is tangible. Spending on improving the team is nebulous, since teams can spend it on international signings or improved minor league facilities, which may not pay off for years.
Couple that with moving salary to younger players through a higher minimum and quicker free agency, and I bet most of these perceived problems go away.
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Clarity on Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw is suffering from shoulder inflammation:
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed Sunday that Clayton Kershaw hasn’t thrown a baseball since Wednesday because he is dealing with inflammation in his left shoulder.LATimes.com
Roberts said Kershaw has been taking anti-inflammatory medication, but the ailment has not required an MRI. He said Kershaw is “encouraged” with his recent progress and remains slated to start on opening day.
The Dodgers hope this is not just positive spin.
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Sunday Notes
David Laurila dedicates his Sunday notes column to the memory of Nick Cafardo. It’s another fascinating column by Laurila, who continues to show that he conducts the best interviews in baseball.
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Saturday, February 23, 2019
We Had the Wrong Story
After 50 years, Cleon Jones Gil Hodges pulled Jones from a game (opens in a new tab)” href=”https://ift.tt/2Np18vp; target=”_blank”>tells the story of why Gil Hodges pulled Jones from a game.
“But when he passed the pitcher’s mound I thought he wanted to talk to Buddy [Harrelson at shortstop]. Then he passed Buddy and I was looking in the bullpen. I thought something was happening in the bullpen, he walks out to me and says, ‘Are you all right.’
“I said I’m fine. He said, ‘Do you think you could have held him to a single?’ I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Gil, look down.’
“When he looked down, his feet were under water and so was mine. It had rained pretty good that day. And we had had a talk in Montreal, a week or so before that. I had a bad ankle. It comes from my old football days and every now and then it would puff up on me.
“We had a talk that day, and he said ‘Do you think you should come out of the lineup? I said as long as I’m swinging the bat good and I am not hurting the ballclub, I want to stay in the lineup.’
“I reminded him of that talk in Montreal and he said he forgot about that. He then said, ‘You know what, Jonesy? You shouldn’t even be out here, and I said fine. Let’s go, and we walked back to the dugout.NYPost.com
“Everybody said I went into the clubhouse and tore up the clubhouse, and pulled down all the lockers and I was all upset. None of that happened. And each of these guys will tell you the same thing.’’
Hodges and Jones allowed everyone to think the removal was about not hustling, and it worked to motivate the team.
Wow. I’m sorry, Mr. Jones to have thought poorly of you all these years for that play.
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Rating Games
Bill James compares his Game Score calculation to Tom Tango’s model at Tango’s request. Interesting throughout, but the original does seem to do a better job of capturing the top and bottom games.
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Friday, February 22, 2019
Twins Get a Deal
The Twins look like they got a steal by signing Marwin Gonzalez to a two-year, $21 million contract. FanGraphs has him at a total of 5.9 WAR over the last three seasons, while Baseball Reference puts him at 8.1 WAR. Splitting the difference yields seven WAR in the three-year span, or 2 1/3 per season. Take 10% off for next year, and the Twins should be looking at around 4.4 WAR, worth nearly $40 million at $9 million per WAR. The Twins are paying $4.7 million per WAR. If Gonzalez posts 2 1/3 WAR this year, he pays for the contract. A very good deal for Minnesota.
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Timer Terms
MLB announces its rollout of the spring training pitch clock:
- 1. In the first spring training games, the 20-second timer will operate without enforcement so as to make players and umpires familiar with the new system.
- 2. Early next week, umpires will issue reminders to pitchers and hitters who violate the rule, but no ball-strike penalties will be assessed. Between innings, umpires are expected to inform the club’s field staff (manager, pitching coach or hitting coach) of any violations.
- 3. Later in spring training, and depending on the status of the negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association, umpires will be instructed to begin assessing ball-strike penalties for violations.
This really should not be a big deal. There is plenty of leeway for stoppages of play, foul balls, and batters who don’t get in the box. The minor league pitchers I saw under the timer had no problems.
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Maybe K is for Keuchel
Clayton Kershaw appears to have a worrisome injury:
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has been shut down indefinitely after telling manager Dave Roberts that he “didn’t feel right” after two discouraging outings on the mound.
Kershaw worked out indoors at Camelback Ranch on Friday, but didn’t play catch. Roberts wouldn’t speculate on the left-hander’s next bullpen session.StarTribune.com
“Just going to take a few days. It’s just best if I do that,” Kershaw told reporters. “I’m not going to get another chance to do this during the season. It feels like it’s a good time. Hopefully be playing catch, if not this weekend, by the first of next week.”
Note feeling right is very vague. Something doesn’t feel right, and then suddenly he needs elbow surgery. Maybe it’s a good thing the Dodgers kept their spending low this winter, they may need to grad Dallas Keuchel off the free agent market.
There’s talk in the story of a dead-arm period, but it seems pretty early in spring training for that to happen.
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Constant Change
As MLB and the MLBPA discuss numerous rule changes, Steven Goldman looks at what change has wrought historically. Sometime change makes things better, sometimes it makes things worse:
THT.FanGraphs.com
This is an anxiety-provoking thought. The key to relaxation in the face of relentless change is to accept that time may bring good changes and it may bring bad, but it’s going to bring both regardless. Rage (if you must), but then roll. As R.E.M. argued, even if it’s the end of the world as you know it, it’s possible to feel fine. Bring on one of a strictly limited number of relievers and the first of the three batters he will face.
I do disagree with one part of the article, however. Goldman discusses grueling sports like pedestrianism and marathon dancing:
In both cases, legislation attempted to mitigate the danger to participants but simultaneously reduced the appeal to hardcore fans—apparently some of the fun was watching competitors push themselves to the edge of death.
It may now seem like a foregone conclusion that society would not tolerate the crueler aspects of pedestrianism, with that game playing the role of the deselected neanderthal to baseball’s homo sapien.
I don’t know about a lack of toleration. We watch the X-Games, which to me is just a way to watch people doing really dangerous things with the chance of dying. Some things don’t change that much.
In general, I agree with his premise. Let the changes happen, and see where they lead.
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Thursday, February 21, 2019
Win/Loss Reviews
One of the key questions I ask when I meet with sales executives and sales people is, “What causes you to win, what causes you to lose?” Often, I ask to see any data and analysis they have on wins and losses.
A couple of things happen:
- Surprisingly, people don’t know the answers. Yes there are anecdotes, “We were involved in this situation….” They are either the single greatest success or the single greatest loss. But they fundamentally can’t answer the question about their typical deals because they haven’t asked the question themselves.
- Alternatively, they spin a report out of their CRM system. As each deal is closed out, sales people are supposed to provide a reason code. The results are always predictable—wins are solely attributable to the fantastic job the sales person did in selling. Losses are never the result of what the sales person did or didn’t do, but are always blamed on price, uncompetitive products, T&Cs and a litany of other excuses.
- For really big losses, sometimes there is a loss review, but too often, those focus on assessing and assigning blame.
But one wonders, “What are we learning? How do we learn from our experiences, good or bad, using them to improve what we do in the future?”
Win/loss reviews are critical to improving performance!
But there’s another aspect to understanding wins and losses that too many fail to leverage. Most of the time, when-if we do them, we focus on observations from the sales team. Sometimes we might speculate what the competition may have done. But we seldom go back to the customer, “Thank you for the opportunity to compete. Can you give us some insight into why we won/lost? Can you help us understand what we might do better or differently in the future?”
After all, it’s the customer that really understands the choices they have made, so why don’t we make it a standard part of our process to understand why they have made those choices and learn from them?
Sometimes, particularly for very large deals, companies hire consultants to do this assessment–we’ve been hired a number of times to interview customers for these large deals. Sometimes, sales or product management will conduct interviews, but again, usually for very large deals.
But I rarely see this kind of follow up with our “typical deals.” If we aren’t interested in learning, from our customers, about why they buy or why they don’t, how do we ever get better.
Getting some sort of customer feedback on wins/losses for “typical deals,’ needn’t be cumbersome, time consuming, or intrusive. In fact, when I speak to customers, generally, they find it in their own self interests to have their suppliers/potential suppliers improve their abilities to compete.
If you want to learn, if you want to improve, you owe it to yourself and your company to ask your customers/potential customers.
Afterword: Thanks to Kevin Dixon for suggesting this topic. Kevin is doing important work in this area.
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Cafardo Passes
Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo died suddenly Thursday, today:
Longtime Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo has died after collapsing at the Red Sox’s spring training ballpark. He was 62.Chron.com
The newspaper said Cafardo had an embolism Thursday and Red Sox medical staff was unable to revive him.
My thoughts go out to his family, friends, and readers.
Cafardo was a member of a long line of fine baseball writers at the Globe. For someone like him, spending your last moments on a field is not a bad way to go.
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Never Respond To An RFP That You Didn’t Write!
At a kickoff meeting earlier this week, I was having a disturbing conversation with a group of sales people. It seemed a big part of their “prospecting,” was trolling customers for RFPs and RFIs.
I probed them on this, their response was, “It’s so easy, these are people who already want to buy, they’ve put together their requirements, all we have to do is just respond to the RFPs! It’s pretty easy to chase after them!”
I asked, “What’s your win rate, what’s the quality of the deal (i.e. are you winning through pricing)?” Things got a little sketchy, a lot of shoulder shrugs, evasive looks, finally, “We win our fair share, so if we get enough of them we can make our numbers…”
The conversation brought back dozens of similar conversations I’ve had over the years. People believing RFP business is low hanging fruit and spending all their time (and company resources) chasing RFPs.
Don’t get me wrong, RFPs are mandatory in certain sectors. For example, most governmental work requires RFPs. Many companies have policies that demand a formalized RFP process. Responding to RFPs is a part of what many of us do.
Having said that, in our company, we never respond to a RFP that we didn’t write! And we are pretty unmovable in providing that advice to our clients.
The problem with RFPs is by the time a RFP is issued, the customer has locked in on their priorities, requirements, how they will evaluate alternatives, how they will make a decision, how will make an award. Responding to a RFP demands no selling, it’s simply an act of providing responses to the things asked in the RFP.
By the time the RFP comes out, while there is some “wriggle room,” for the most part you have lost all your opportunity to sell, but most of our opportunity to educate the customer, to create value, to help shape how they might achieve their goals has past—and by waiting for the RFP, we have lost all that opportunity.
More frightening is, What if the competition didn’t miss that opportunity? What if they were in early educating the customer, helping them define and prioritize what they are trying to achieve, helping them understand the critical issues around the buying decision?
While they may not have “written” the RFP, they are likely to have significantly influenced and shaped the RFP.
The time for selling in organizations using the RFP process is not when the RFP is issued, but long before–as they are just determining they have a problem and want to take action on it.
This should be no surprise, customers always go through similar processes of identifying a problem and committing to take action, defining requirements, educating themselves on the issues and the alternatives. It’s a part of every buying process.
Our sales processes are aligned with these buying processes. The “heavy lifting” in selling is not in presenting the final priced proposal, but in all the work that leads to that point. It’s in the qualification and discovery, it’s in the process of helping customers organize to buy, to define their problems, to facilitate their buying process.
Responding to RFPs misses all that. It misses the fundamental abililty to differentiate yourself, to create value with the customer and to help shape their thinking and approaches to the solutions they want to consider.
Of course, at the end of that process, a RFP will be issued and you have to compete. But you will be better positioned to do so, and the customer will have a deeper understanding of your offerings and will value what you bring to their solution.
Do the hard work right, and every once in a while you might see a tender that looks something like this, “Any one is invited to respond, as long as their legal corporate name is Partners In EXCELLENCE, and their corporate HQ is located at……”
Waiting for RFPs and responding to them is not selling. Never respond to a RFP that you haven’t written–or at least been involved in the development. You are wasting your time!
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Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Universal Design Ideas for Your Bathroom
Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com
Thinking about how long you’ll likely stay in your home can help you plan a universal design for your bathroom. This is beneficial to everyone in the family including the children and the elderly. If you have no idea where to start, here are some great tips:
Photo by Jose Soriano on Unsplash
Single-lever faucets
When choosing a faucet, it’s important to keep in mind how people with limited mobility will use it. A single-lever design can be turned off and on with an open palm or a closed fist, which makes it the perfect addition to a universally designed bathroom. Source: BHG
Flooring that prevents slips
Textured flooring in any location can help prevent dangerous trips, slips, and falls. Tile presents a variety of textural possibilities in the bathroom that can work for universal-design updates. “In showers, we like to cut the tiles in a two-by-two size so that you have a lot of grout in between to prevent slipping,” says Kelly. Larger floor-mat tiles with a bit of texture can also create more friction for walking. Source: ThisOldHouse
Ample space
Wheelchair-accessible bathroom dimensions require clear space of at least 5 feet (60 inches) in diameter to allow a 180-degree turn. If space is at a premium, consider keeping the room open rather than compartmentalizing the toilet so that a wheelchair’s turning radius can be accommodated. Source: HouseLogic
Easy access
Create an easy-to-use bathroom on your home’s main level. If your house has more than one floor, make sure an accommodating bathroom is located on the main level. That way, family members or guests who might not be able to handle stairs will have access to a comfortable bathroom, making your home more welcoming for everyone. Source: DIYNetwork
Grab bars
Whether a bather is 6 or 60, anyone could use the security of a grab bar in the shower. Sleek grab bars can double as towel holders, and there are modern options that will complement the overall look of your bathroom rather than detracting from it. Source: HGTV
Take a look at our website and feel free to call us if you need help on planning your dream bathroom.
Contact:
Perfect Bath
Phone: Toll Free 1-866-843-1641
Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com
The post Universal Design Ideas for Your Bathroom appeared first on Perfect Bath Canada.
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Who Watches the Watchers?
MLB is cracking down on sign stealing: Here is my favorite new rule:
ESPN.com
Live broadcasts limited to each team’s designated replay official, who in turn will be monitored by a security expert.
Job creation!
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Angels on TV
Arte Moreno considers buying the local Fox Sports channels for the Angels. It’s a move he made with radio:
In 2006, Moreno bought a Spanish-language radio station, eventually converting it to an English-language sports station. He renamed the station KLAA, after he renamed the team the Los Angeles Angels, and anchored its programming with broadcasts of Angels games.
Moreno said he had long considered buying a television channel and making the Angels its anchor.LATimes.com
“I feel, much like our radio, we can pick and choose how we surround ourselves and how we market, and make sure that we can make it affordable for people to continue to communicate with us,” he said, “whether it’s on air, or through cable, or streaming, etc.”
There are a number of obstacles to the deal, including Fox wanting to sell all their stations as a package. Besides the branding, buying the two stations that are on most cable systems can keep the Dodgers station off the air. Another buyer probably would not be interested in keep both channels, and one disappearing would open a slot on the cable systems for the Dodgers.
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Tuesday, February 19, 2019
First Impressions Count!
One of the biggest issues we hear from everyone involved in sales and marketing is capturing the customer attention. Whether it’s that first communication, an email, text, or social engagement, that first phone conversation, or that first meeting.
Getting that first contact or engagement is something nearly everyone struggles with.
Given the difficulty we have with these first contacts, one would expect we would be driven to create the very best first impression we possibly could. After all, if we don’t, it’s highly unlikely that we will have the opportunity for subsequent meetings or building relationships with customers.
We know first impressions count!
But if these first impressions are so important, why do so many, do such a terrible job at creating memorable and distinctive first impressions?
Some things to think about:
- If you want to make a great first impression, why would you get my name wrong, or my company’s name wrong, or have an introductory email filled with spelling errors and bad grammar?
- Why would we conduct any call without minimal research on the person we are calling and their organization? Fewer than 1% of the calls I receive show the person has looked at either my LinkedIn profile, my blog site, or our company website in the prior 48 hours. 95% of the call appear never to have done so.
- Why wouldn’t we tailor our first impression to something that is likely to be relevant to the person we are calling? For example, referring to a blog post they may have read, making an observation on that is an easy way to capture my attention. Fewer than 5% of the people contacting me do this. 99% of the people never talk about something that might be of interest to the CEO of a boutique consulting company, perhaps most of those people don’t even know I am the CEO of such a company, or what a boutique consulting company does.
- Why would we use references like Google, Microsoft, IBM, GE and other giants to establish credibility for your offerings with me? As much as I admire those organizations, and I respect those that do business with those organizations, they are meaningless and irrelevant to my business. Their strategies, challenges and goals are very different from ours.
- Why would your first outreach, by whatever channel, focus on what you sell, rather than the challenges my organization is likely to face? I’m never interested in buying unless it does something to help address specific issues in our organization. Either you know what companies like mine face and can say something that might be relevant based on their experience, or you have a good guess about what I face. Instead, you present solutions to problems I don’t have or don’t know I have.
- If you want to engage me in a discussion about my business, why don’t you have someone who can carry on a two way conversation about the issues I’m likely to have. I don’t expect a sales person to be as deep into the issues as I might be, but I expect the sales person to have enough capability to carry on some level of discussion. For example, if you think you can improve my ability to grow, you should be able to have a conversation about the problems I am likely to have in growing.
- Managers, if you want to establish a good first impression with C level executives, why do you have your most inexperienced sales people, your SDRs, as the first point of contact? Why don’t you have your most experienced sales people as the first point of contact? They will be more likely to have a credible conversation with a C level executive than someone who is new to business and selling. You are setting them, consequently your company, up for failure.
First impressions are perhaps the most important to us. Without the very best first impression, we have no shot and making another impression or engaging our customers.
Are you making a great first impression?
Are you setting your people up to make great first impressions?
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Machado’s Value
Just to recap, Manny Machado agreed to a 10-year, $300 million dollar deal with the Padres today. I have not found the fine details, but there does appear to be an opt-out after five seasons.
When I evaluate a deal, I average the player’s WAR for the last three seasons, and then work forward from that. Once a player reaches age 30, I lower the expectation by 10%. Machado is tough to peg, and FanGraphs has him at 13 WAR in total the last three seasons, while Baseball Reference calculates he was worth 9 WAR. I split the difference, and assigned him 3.67 WAR for the next four seasons. Over the ten years of the deal, the Padres should expect to get about 30.1 WAR, meaning they spent about $9.96 million per WAR.
It seems like free agent WAR was coming in at between $8 million and $9 million per WAR this off-season, but the Padres blew that value out of the water. So everyone talking about the broken free-agent market appears to have been wrong. Teams and players are taking their time to make deals, and a small market, historically poor team made the biggest splash. Teams were bidding, as the White Sox tried to land the star infielder.
SanDiegoUnionTribune.com
Once complete, the seismic, unprecedented undertaking will amount to the richest free-agent deal in the history of American sports. Let that soak in for a minute. Chew on those words. Process what that signals and says.
This was wadding up the narrative, feeding it into a wood chipper and tossing the remains off of Sunset Cliffs.
Suddenly, San Diego pulsed. This meant miles more than a team simply landing a sports superstar. This felt, without hyperbole, transcendent. This was a sunny vacation destination screaming that all that condescending little-brother stuff just might end.
San Diego finally seems ready to put up its dukes and fight. The city, through a bold and brash move by its nationally maligned baseball team, shouted that it’s willing to tackle the kind of thing that only really happens in the Bronx, in the front offices neighboring Chavez Ravine, at Fenway Park or the corner of Clark and Addison in Chicago.
Now it’s up to the Padres to surround Machado with enough good talent for the team to actually wi.
from baseballmusings.com http://bit.ly/2GRBdvd
Newcombe Passes
Award winning pitcher Don Newcombe died today, Tuesday:
The team confirmed that Newcombe died Tuesday morning after a lengthy illness.
“Don Newcombe’s presence and life established him as a role model for Major Leaguers across the country,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten said. “He was a constant presence at Dodger Stadium, and players always gravitated to him for his endless advice and leadership. The Dodgers meant everything to him, and we are all fortunate he was a part of our lives.”
FoxSports.com
My thoughts go out to his family and friends. Newcombe was 92 years old.
Newcombe pitched well during his prime, 1949-1956, although he lost two years in that period to military service. He managed to go 112-48, a .700 winning percentage with a 3.41 ERA. In a low strikeout era, he K’d 5.1 batters per nine while walking just 2.3 per 9 IP. His best season was 1956, when he won 27 games, the Cy Young award, and the MVP. His best season in terms of WAR was his rookie year when he posted a 3.17 ERA and led the NL with 5.5 K per 9 IP.
Over at Dodger Thoughts, Jon Weisman shares the chapter of his book, Bothers in Arms, on Don Newcombe.
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Monday, February 18, 2019
Bochy to Retire
Bruce Bochy announced he will retire from managing at the end of the 2019 season.
Bochy, who turns 64 in April, announced the decision to the team in a meeting before the first full-squad workout of spring training.SFGate.com
“In my mind it’s time,” Bochy told reporters in the dugout a few hours later as a steady, chilly rain fell at Scottsdale Stadium. “I’ve managed with my gut. I came up here in 2007 on my gut, and so it’s my gut feeling that it’s time. It’s been an unbelievable ride.”
The Giants had not won a World Series since 1954 until Bochy led the team to a championship, the first of three in a five season stretch. That will put him in the Hall of Fame, as his .498 overall winning percentage is not that impressive. (His winning percentage with the Giants is .502.) I don’t believe I’ve ever read a bad word about Bochy from his players.
from baseballmusings.com http://bit.ly/2SGQTIO
Early Odds
Here are some early division and pennant odds from BetOnline.ag.
Pennant Odds
Odds to Win American League
- Boston Red Sox 3/1
- New York Yankees 3/1
- Houston Astros 4/1
- Cleveland Indians 8/1
- Oakland Athletics 12/1
- Chicago White Sox 16/1
- Los Angeles Angels 16/1
- Tampa Bay Rays 16/1
- Minnesota Twins 25/1
- Seattle Mariners 25/1
- Toronto Blue Jays 50/1
- Kansas City Royals 80/1
- Texas Rangers 80/1
- Detroit Tigers 125/1
- Baltimore Orioles 250/1
Odds to Win National League
- Los Angeles Dodgers 4/1
- Chicago Cubs 7/1
- Philadelphia Phillies 7/1
- St. Louis Cardinals 7/1
- Atlanta Braves 8/1
- Milwaukee Brewers 8/1
- Washington Nationals 8/1
- New York Mets 10/1
- Colorado Rockies 14/1
- Cincinnati Reds 25/1
- Arizona Diamondbacks 40/1
- Pittsburgh Pirates 40/1
- San Diego Padres 40/1
- San Francisco Giants 40/1
- Miami Marlins 125/1
Divisional Odds
Odds to Win AL East
- New York Yankees 7/5
- Boston Red Sox 3/2
- Tampa Bay Rays 5/1
- Toronto Blue Jays 10/1
- Baltimore Orioles 25/1
Odds to Win AL Central
- Cleveland Indians 4/7
- Minnesota Twins 3/1
- Chicago White Sox 8/1
- Detroit Tigers 16/1
- Kansas City Royals 16/1
Odds to Win AL West
- Houston Astros 1/4
- Los Angeles Angels 11/2
- Oakland Athletics 11/2
- Seattle Mariners 20/1
- Texas Rangers 25/1
Odds to Win NL East
- Philadelphia Phillies 5/2
- Washington Nationals 5/2
- Atlanta Braves 3/1
- New York Mets 3/1
- Miami Marlins 25/1
Odds to Win NL Central
- Chicago Cubs 9/4
- St. Louis Cardinals 9/4
- Milwaukee Brewers 3/1
- Cincinnati Reds 7/1
- Pittsburgh Pirates 7/1
Odds to Win NL West
- Los Angeles Dodgers 1/2
- Colorado Rockies 11/2
- Arizona Diamondbacks 8/1
- San Diego Padres 8/1
- San Francisco Giants 14/1
The Orioles would be an interesting bet. Could the Houston experts turn them around quickly? In general, odds of winning a pennant should be under 100 to 1.
from baseballmusings.com http://bit.ly/2XaMVqh
Sales Person As Sense Maker
The world, both our customers and our own, is best characterized by turbulence.
By this, I mean each of us, at least if we are paying attention, is pummeled by information overload/overwhelm, massive disruption, escalating change, increasingly confusing choices, increasing complexity, transformation, time compression, risk, uncertainty, and distraction.
Too often, our customers are struggling to cope, to keep up, to understand, often to survive. At the same time, they are trying to learn, to grow, to improve, to achieve.
In the face of all of this, how can we create the greatest value with our customers, how can we be most helpful?
I think it is encapsulated in the concept of “Sense-Making.”
By that, I mean, helping the customer make sense of the turmoil and turbulence they face. Helping them sort through everything thy are being pummeled with, helping them identify a path and chart a course forward, to solve their problems, to achieve, in fact to thrive, despite the turbulence.
I believe sales people are among the best to do that–at least in the context of the problems that we solve. Whether it is helping with massive, enterprise wide change, or taking something off their plate, so they don’t have to worry about it.
We are the best equipped to help our customers manage, learn, and grow, because we see others addressing the same issues every day. We can help them understand and navigate the issues they face, providing greater clarity.
Being a sense maker requires, perhaps, different skills and mindsets. We have to have the empathy to understand how our customers feel. We have to understand them, their businesses, their markets, their customers. Perhaps, it’s helping them feel less alone, that they are the only people/organizations facing these issues.
We have to help them figure out where they want to go, how they should be thinking about the issues and the potential solutions. We have to help them learn how to mobilize within their own organizations, navigating both their problem solving and buying processes.
These are non trivial issues, there are no easy solutions, but we can help them discover these and move forward. We can help them make sense of what they face and what they want to achieve.
Afterword: I will be expanding on the concept of Sense-Making in other posts. Increasingly, this single concept will become the biggest area in which sales people can help their customers.
Afterword: One of the most important books you can read is: Sensemaking: The Power Of Humanities In The Age Of The Algorithm, Christian Madsjberg. While Madsjberg addresses far broader issues, the principles apply to everything we do as sales people, in complex B2B sales and as leaders within our own organizations.
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