it's not the playbook

it's how you run the play

What we can control is our performance and our execution, and that’s what we’re going to focus on. -Bill Belichick

Poke around any community, peer group, or forum long enough and you’ll see it:

Someone asking if This Playbook or That Playbook is better. In marketing, it often takes shape around building a funnel or building a sideways hourglass. In sales, it’s a question of whether or not a LinkedIn connection request comes before or after the voicemail.

I’ve been that dude, asking a group of peers if I should do Inbound or focus on networking, etc.

There’s comfort in having a playbook. In part, that comfort is knowing that someone else has laid out the steps for you. And now all you need to do is follow the playbook.

Except for most of us, that’s where things fall apart. We look to the playbook, not how we play, as the path to winning.

“If we pick the right plays, we’ll grow.”

That’s BS. If you pick a play and execute it well the odds are forever more in your favor.

The same can be said for tools we use.

“Which CRM is best for my company?” The one your team uses while they grind out phone calls, emails, prospecting, and closing like a boss.

“Which email platform should we use?” Doesn’t matter if your emails are garbage, does it? High deliverability of awful emails just means more people see your awful emails.

Look, I’m as guilty (if not more) of leaning on the tools and the playbooks. But the longer I’m in this game, the more deeply I know that Bill is right.

We control our performance. We’re responsible for executing. Focusing on running a play better and better is how we win.

See you in the arena,

Peter

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