11
O P I N I O N
Calling the shots When taking control of proposals, squat down, get dirty, and just like a baseball catcher out on the diamond, manage your team.
J ohnny Bench, one of the greatest baseball catchers of all time, said: “The catcher is in the middle of everything. He sees it best.” Having spent 12 years as a catcher, with the busted knees to prove it, I can attest to those words and how applicable they are to a marketing professional coordinating a proposal effort. Even though the manager oversees the team, the catcher is the one “in the trenches” leading the players on the field.
Javier Suarez POP MARKETING
2)Positioning the players. Just like a catcher, mar- keters have the perfect vantage point to position and adjust the players during the proposal cycle. It is always challenging to keep practitioners engaged. Technical staff are working on multiple chargeable “The proposal process is long, tedious, and repetitive, but at the same time exciting. You must be driven to guide it successfully time and time again, just like a catcher.”
The proposal process is long, tedious, and repetitive, but at the same time exciting. You must be driven to guide it successfully time and time again, just like a catcher. Here are some of the similarities that could get you thinking like one during your next proposal: 1)Deep knowledge of the competition. Studying other teams, their roster, lineups, bench, viewing tapes, and understanding each batter’s idiosyncra- sies and how they have fared against different pitch- ers are just some of the research a catcher dives into to prepare for a game. Similarly, we should study our competition, our history against them, their re- lationship with the client, their differentiators, and their possible approaches for the project at hand.
See JAVIER SUAREZ, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER November 27, 2017, ISSUE 1225
Made with FlippingBook Annual report