One more strike

There were two outs in the bottom of the 9th, and now the count was 0-2. I had struck out each of the first two batters on three consecutive pitches. Just one more strike and I would end the season, along with it my professional baseball career.

One time the San Diego Padres called me up to the Major Leagues for 7 consecutive days, though sadly I never saw any action. Now pitching my last game for the Stockton Ports , then the AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club , I had a chance to go out with an achievement that is almost as rare as a perfect game: an immaculate inning. Against my now hometown team, the Oklahoma City Comets , no less! I looked in, got the sign, reared back, and unleashed a perfect 92 mph cut fastball across the batter's knees. Right over the outside corner.

"BALL 1!"

I didn't finish the game. I'll let you imagine why...

Because it never happened! I had neither the talent, the dedication, nor the circumstances to make it that far. The ball in the photo was not a treasured souvenir, but something I found for $1.00 at a second hand store. Something about holding a baseball in my hand just brings me comfort, and clears my mind. That can be a good thing to have close by with some of the things you see on the road these days!

But that's the story I tell when someone asks. And you know what? They always buy it! It's the backstory that I want for that ball. Well, I'd rather it be a glittering 15 year Major League Baseball career. And have the aforementioned game as my last rehab assignment before returning to the Boston Red Sox in 2004, only to later send the New York Yankees packing having tossed a complete game masterpiece in Game 7. But that didn't happen either. And it's too easy to Google...

It's that conviction that comes across, though, along with just enough details to make it interesting. And that's something that's so crucial to have in sales, and in every aspect of what goes in to making them.

At this point, I should probably make something clear: I always tell people that I was kidding! And also that when you're a non captive insurance agent, you get to pick to products that you offer. If you don't like a particular policy that one company offers, you can find a similar one that you do like from a different company. If you find an entire company to be lacking, there's another one around the corner that would be happy for you to represent them. So you have every reason and opportunity to have conviction in what you offer, and then justification for the enthusiasm that you exude.

When you first start out in this business, sometimes you have to use other people's stories. That's not to say you claim them as your own, but you have to be able to tell them in a way that gives them power, and can then motivate someone to take action. Even if that action is just to get them to really think about what they value. After some time goes by, you build up a database of your own stories. But that conviction, that enthusiasm, still needs to be there. You need to believe it. And if you don't? Sell something you do believe in, or find a business that speaks to you.

Sales can be one of the most honorable occupations that exists. For while people may have many good reasons for having a lack of trust and respect for salespeople, when a person's income is tied directly to what and how much they sell or produce, you find out a lot about the type of person they are. When it's your income that is based on that, you can quickly find out about your own character.

So as we go into another week, I leave you with the immortal words of Dwight Schrute: "Some people will tell you salesman is a bad word. They'll conjure up images of used car dealers and door to door charlatans. This is our duty: to change their perception."

Also that when I say I made up that story, the pitch was just 89...

#justkidding #maybe #okc #insurancesales #baseball #saleswoman #iwasquotingdwightnottryingtobenoninclusive! #sundaymotivation