Batter Up

 

Nobody hits it out of the ballpark every time they step up to the plate.

Not every piece of copy you write is going to work to the desired level.

In baseball, a season batting average of .300 or higher is considered excellent, and an average higher than .400 a nearly unachievable goal.

Batting .400 means you got a hit 4 for every 10 times at bat.

Businesses have batting averages, too. 

In high school, I worked for a small cheese and gourmet food shop in suburban New York. The owner, Bob Fortunato, had opened the place after quitting his job as a Sears store manager.

One day, while taking inventory of the cheeses that hadn't sold during a BOGO sale, he told me that during the 1960s, store managers at Sears were expected to have 3-out-of every 5 sales promotions succeed. "Get that number consistently and you had job security. Hit 4 out of 5 often enough and you'd get promoted."

Sears expected 60% of the manager’s promotions to win and rewarded those who achieved 80%.

 

If your client is expecting you to get on base every time you step up to the plate, you should do a better job of managing expectations.

Yes, be confident.

Yes, try to hit ‘em all out of the park.

But if you don’t, don’t make excuses. And don’t stop swinging the bat. Figure out why. Make appropriate adjustments.

And manage your client’s expectations.

You’re not going to hit 100%. 

You’re also not going to be judged by baseball standards where a 30% success rate isn’t only acceptable but celebrated.

Somewhere in between, find a reasonable expectation for performance that both you and your client can live with.

And give all that you've got to exceed it.

Every time you step up to the plate.