Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Bert Blyleven are among those
pitchers that gave up a home run facing their first major league
batter.  Though they both eventually worked out their errors in
judgment with coaching and experience, these two Hall of Fame
pitchers were unprepared for their first “transaction” with a
batter to say the least. They let the batter get to them and
“gave in” rather than nibbling at the edges  plate and risking a
walk.  There’s a time to take a risk and there’s a time not to
take that risk. As rookies, they had great skills, but didn’t
really know the game. For the baseball pitcher, it’s about
winning the game (profit), recognizing the risk (who’s on base
and what’s the score), and knowing your costs (what you give up
for the outcome you want). That’s being prepared for the
customer interaction.  Here’s a similar situation for
wholesalers:  We repeatedly hear wholesaler owners and managers
lament that inside sales people “giveinat the first sign the
customer “lays off” (objects to) a pri