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October 29, 2009
Market Baseball: Explaining the Rally to Clients
 Although
the market has backed off a bit lately, when it had its first
mini-rally in the spring, many people thought that perhaps it
was time to jump back into stocks and recoup some of their
losses.
Debra Taylor and the folks at
www.horsesmouth.com a professional development
network for financial advisors still had some concerns about
sustainability and wanted to watch matters more closely over
time. Her challenge was not to get investors to act, but to
actually restrain clients from rushing into investing.
How did she hold them back? With an analogy, metaphor’s close
cousin.
It’s Like Baseball
She suggested, “Think of our current economy as a baseball
diamond. Arrival at first base represents increasing demand in
the credit markets (and falling yields).” She explained that in
order for equity markets to rebound in a sustainable way,
companies need access to reasonably priced financing.
Rounding second base indicates that the equity markets are
strengthening, which is a precursor to economic revival. Third
base represents recovery of the economy, and home plate
indicates that we are making money again and that the economy
and the markets are stabilized.
Slide into Home
Base
Tying her analogy back to her investors, she concludes, “Just as
it is impossible to get to third base without running past first
and second, we find it difficult to believe that the economy
will recover without seeing the credit markets and equity
markets rebounding, in that order.”
Debra reports that, “Although this is a somewhat simplistic
approach, I find this metaphor is not only visually powerful but
memorable and convincing as well.”
Popular Source for
Metaphor
Baseball is a versatile source for metaphors, because it is so
well-known to people, even those who don’t follow the game. It
is particularly effective when what you are explaining involves
a sequence of actions, a series of components, or a group of
contributing factors.
Horsesmouth.com developed an attractive and simple graphic to go
along with their analogy, but you can just as effectively grab a
piece of paper and a pen and draw the “bases” of your argument
as you are talking about them. Neatness doesn’t count.
Visualizing your points for your listener is what “scores” for
them and for you.
Wishing you lots of treats on Halloween
See you next month. Remember to Make What You Say, Pay—with
metaphors.
Anne Miller, "Metaphorian"
Horsesmouth (www.horsesmouth.com),
a professional development network for financial advisors.
 Short
Sweet & Successful
Want budget sensitive clients to spend more with you?
JC Penney has an excellent (metaphoric) strategy to entice
budget-conscious customers to spend money at their stores this
Christmas season. Their latest ad reads, “Give
like Santa,
Save Like Scrooge.” I love this because the ad recognizes the
“spend-save” frustration most people are feeling these days and
then uses just the right images to succinctly and memorably
position Penney as the way out of that dilemma. Brilliant. Can
you leverage this approach in your business?
Giving Feedback from
Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz
 “I
have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you
say something right then because you don’t say six months later,
“Remember that day, January 12, when you peed on the carpet?”
That doesn’t make any sense. “This is what is on my mind. This
is quick feedback. And then I’m on to the next thing.” The New
York Times, 10/18/09.
Glad to Help...
“Thank you again for an engaging and thorough ‘discussion’ on
how to better prepare and present to our clients in telling a
story.”
Acct. Exec., CBS
Interactive-Sports, IAB Seminar
“Anne has an innovative way of analyzing people, that got
me—and my team—to better tailor our pitches to the particular
receiver. In under an hour, her fun, interactive program got us
thinking and acting differently (by the way, she gets an Oscar
from me for her role-playing.) Like me, you’ve probably sat
through many sales training seminars. I wish all of them were as
relevant as Anne’s.”
COO,
AC Lion
 PLANNING
A SALES OR
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING?
Give your group a program
they will thank you for!
Call today to
guarantee your preferred dates and let’s plan a lively, high
pay-off speech or workshop for your organization.
Call 212 876 1875
or email:
amiller@annemiller.com |
