Business or Basketball: Emotion Gets the Win
Last night, I had the pleasure of watching the Indiana Pacers game from "Legends," one of the premiere seating venues at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. I arrived early, as food and beverages were included with the tickets. When I walked in, there was an older, unassuming gentleman sitting at the end of the bar, drinking a Coke and having a meal. I asked my brother, who accompanied me, "Is that..." to which he interrupted, "He's exactly who you think he is." So, with humility, I walked over to him slowly, put my hand out and said, "Mr. Leonard, thanks for the memories." He shook my hand, said "You're very welcome, young man," and then I left him to his dinner.
I will take to my grave the voice of this man who, on my drives from Cincinnati to Indianapolis as a college student, gave me the play-by-play of the game on the radio as I listened to my Pacers play. He made famous the phrase "BOOM BABY!" as Reggie Miller drilled the three for the game winner. This man has seen it all, knows the greats personally, and has been acknowledged by The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a man of their own.
Slick is quoted as saying, "Probably the best comments that I get say, 'You really identify with the common man.' That’s important to me because most people can't. I don’t set myself up on a pedestal or anything in the broadcast booth. I could say hello and talk to anybody, and I'm sincere about it. That’s the way I coached, and that’s the way I broadcast. My players knew that. I always said you can fool somebody for a week, a month, or six months, but sooner or later they’re going to find you out if you haven’t done it the right way. Then it's over.'"
"I could say hello and talk to anybody, and I'm sincere about it." -Bobby "Slick" Leonard
Think about your business for a moment. Are you going for the quick buck, or are you building relationships? Sincere relationships. Yes, this phrase gets thrown around a lot, so let me be specific. Do you know the name of your prospect's wife? Do you know the names of his children? Do you know how many kids they'd like to have, where they like to vacation, their favorite food? No? Then you're just giving them facts and figures and graphs and - this is going to make me cringe - trying to "convince" them to buy your product. Every buying decision is emotional (I tip my hat forever to Bill Caskey for this tidbit), even the bar of soap I sell. How is your prospect evaluated? Is it based around budget? Is it based around the experience provided at their place of business, be it a hotel, a restaurant, a retail establishment, etc? Whatever it is, if buying from you will prevent him or her from taking their family on vacation, it won't happen. Every decision made, especially those based around buying, is emotional. While money wasn't at stake, I had the chance to shake the hand of one of the greatest basketball minds of all time. It was an emotional decision to either do so or not. My brother, knowing my love for the game, said, "What can it hurt if you're polite?" He was right. You should know your prospect as well as my brother knows me.I walked away, then looked back over my shoulder, and if I had been a photographer, I would have quickly captured this moment. There he was: Hall-of-Famer, Bobby "Slick" Leonard, quietly having dinner before he called the game, sitting under an enormous sign that said, "LEGENDS." Nothing could have been more appropriate.