For (Saint) Pete's Sake

By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer

Thought for the Week—For (Saint) Pete’s Sake

The US’s single-elimination, national college basketball tournament is known for its upsets that send top-seeded teams packing, hence the moniker, March Madness. This year’s first round delivered as the St. Peter’s Peacocks defeated the University of Kentucky Wildcats last Thursday. On Friday morning, the news of this upset sent many of us to Google to learn what happened. And where in the heavens is St. Peter’s University?  

I discovered that the Peacock campus in Jersey City, NJ has an enrollment of 3500 students, Kentucky’s is nearly 35,000. The total annual budget for the Peacock basketball program is $1.6million, UK’s coach alone has an annual salary of $8million. And while the Wildcats travel to away games by jet, the Peacocks take a bus, and that was the case for last week’s game when they traveled to Indianapolis. We all love underdog stories, small programs outperforming their better-resourced competitors, but underdog stories can deliver so much more than exciting sports.

I’ve never spoken to a marketing and sales team, even big ones, who thought they had enough budget or an adequate number of people. Yet, I also know of many small departments and companies that outperform their larger competitors in many ways: customer satisfaction, shorter sales cycles, larger profit margins, and more efficient use of resources, to name a few. How do they do it? They outwork their competition.  

Operating like an underdog helps develop foundational behaviors to accomplishment the remarkable. A friend and former colleague of mine, Jim Roddy, authored a great book that captures the stories of 31 underdogs, and how each used their under-doggedness to achieve great professional success. I highly recommend the book The Walk-On Method To Career & Business Success: 31 Underdogs Who Became Extraordinary (And So Can You!): Roddy, Jim: 9798671609189: Amazon.com: Books.

The same tenacity and work ethic of Jim’s 31 underdogs, and the Peacocks, may be just the thing your team needs.

By the way, the Peacocks beat Murray State on Saturday to make it into the Sweet Sixteen and will face Purdue in the next round. The game is Friday in Philadelphia, only a 90-minute bus ride for the Peacocks.  

I hope you have a great week!

--Perry