Musings at Altitude

In football, the “red zone” is that area between your opponent’s 20 yard line and the end zone.  The statisticians track the red zone performance, and great teams will typically score at a significantly high pace if they move into the red zone.  The best teams score touchdowns and don’t settle for field goals.

In business, the “red zone” may very well be that pipeline level of greater than 50% probability of close.  Great capture teams will typically close at a significantly high pace if they enter that red zone, and the very best teams will close at or above the anticipated revenues and gross margins on those contracts.

Interestingly enough, great companies track their “red zone” performance at as anal a level as the fanatics for football statistics.  It’s not good enough to invest heavily in that drive to capture that revenue and fall short when you’re that close.  The red zone performance is heavily scrutinized and folks want to know every single move that occurred that got them that score, or more importantly, prevented them from scoring.

In looking back, I was so happy to win contracts that I really didn’t spend much time focusing on my red zone stats or the quest for the revenue…I was too happy just to have revenue.  Now, maybe from age or perspective or curiosity, I’m as interested in the path as the result. 

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing better than blowing that horn after a big win. 

But there’s something very magical about the journey to that win as well!