7. Maximizing Value: How we challenge "what is" for the sake of "what could be"

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

VALUE:  the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.  

PERCEIVED VALUE: the worth that a product or service has in the mind of the consumer. For the most part, consumers are unaware of the true cost of production for the products they buy; instead, they simply have an internal feeling for how much certain products are worth to them. (www.investopedia.com)


QUOTABLE

“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources—not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.” 
                                              -Daniel H. Pink

 "Knowledge is having the right answer.  Intelligence is asking the right questions."
                                              -Uncredited

THE THOUGHT PROCESS


As the race to procure the services of the market's elite players and staff, more programs are beefing up their processes and resourcing, along with becoming more adept at selling their value to potential program members.  This week's post is centered around an exercise we use to identify avenues to add value to our overall experience in hopes of attracting and retaining elite level talent.

As Daniel H. Pink suggests in "To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others" selling is, at its most basic, is the ability to convince someone else to part with resources.  Whether it is parting with their money, time, or even frame of reference, we spend our time presenting a case for why:  why they should choose our program, why they should follow our lead, why they should reciprocate loyalty, etc.  With that said, one of my main functions as a leader should be to challenge our program's value through a line of questioning designed to maximize our potential within our available resources to give our experience more value than our competitors.  The perception of our value should be measured on the quality of the experience we provide and we owe it to our organization (and everyone in it) to "saturate" our experience with value at every turn.  More perceived value equals more engagement.  More engagement equals a stronger results.  Stronger results equals more value.  This cycle strengthens our ability to demonstrate our program's worth in the eyes of our past, current, and future constituents.

 It would be easiest to associate our value as an organization with the resources we are provided and work within those limitations; however, one of the most exhilarating challenges in my job is identifying avenues to add value and working to create a solution.  While I am committed to making large steps forward in our experience, there exists "low hanging fruit" in every organization and I am determined to find these opportunities in ours.   

 An exercise that I like to employ is a line of questioning centered around tapping out the potential of our program.  Our staff is used to the idea of "poking holes" in our process and I am thankful for their willingness to continue to improve.  I have included 10 examples of these questions below:
  1. Imagining all things were equal (resourcing, facilities, etc) what would set us apart from our competitors?
  2. What are low-to-no cost improvements we can make to improve our experience (includes facilities and processes)?
  3. What are the college baseball's best practices?  What changes can we make to employ them or improve them?
  4. How can we look at the experience we are providing from a different angle to find innovative ways to run our program?
  5. How can we be more efficient in the processes can we employ to free up time to re-invest in our people?
  6. What are high-return investments (time, money, etc.) that we need to explore?
  7. If we are to implement this (new process, structure, program element, etc), how can we do it better than our competitors?
  8. If we could do that (process, event, etc) again, what could we do differently?  
  9. Why do we do the things we do?  Are our processes tied to tradition, convenience, or utility?
  10. What are methods other successful programs or businesses are using that can improve our experience? 
The answers to these questions serve to highlight the space between our program's current output and its potential.  It should be stated that prior to throwing additional funding or resourcing at a challenge, we ask first: can we accomplish the desired result with our current resourcing?  If not, then we look at creative ways to free up the appropriate resources.   

 This exercise sparks conversations that allow our staff to communicate both internally and externally with great confidence and detail, not to mention its role in improving the impact of the student-athlete experience.  

 A special thank you to all of the former assistant coaches and other mentors whose willingness to answer these questions and pursue avenues for program growth was instrumental in moving our program forward.  Below is a sampling of some of the areas in which we have added a tremendous amount of value to our experience:
  • Implemented a clearly defined staffing structure 
  • Created staff positions
  • Implemented a development program 
  • Created our "Defensive Rep Plan" for practice
  • Created "1000 Hour Project" and "Get To Give" community service initiatives
  • Developed program and operations manuals
  • Created roster forecasting systems
  • Implemented opportunities for development 
  • Created our program overview
  • Developed a social media presence
  • "Re-imagined" our current facility to create a pitching development area
  • Organized a fall practice schedule to include maximum development for our players
  • Improved internal and external communications through ARMS Software, GroupMe, Google Drive and Google Calendar
In closing, we all have a chance to out-work, out-think, and out-perform our resourcing, while infusing a sense of pride and hope into even the most challenging of situations.  Modeling this type of "optimistic figureitoutiveness" creates engagement, ownership and an overwhelming sense of pride in our brand.  It is my hope that it continues to separate us as one of the nation's elite baseball experiences.


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