What Can Dealers Learn From Billy Beane?

The Oakland A’s won 20 games in a row back in 2002. The credit for that amazing streak and the turnaround of a struggling team was given to their General Manager, Billy Beane.

The old problem was finding the right baseball player for the right price, on a cash-strapped ball club. For years, baseball scouts had evaluated players using time tested methods, including “gut feeling,” however Beane and his assistants used data in a way that is called “sabermetrics” to evaluate baseball talent. Essentially, undervalued major-league players were found by properly using data, and it translated to win column success that they could afford. Beane spoke about his experience at the DrivingSales Executive Summit back in 2012.

During his keynote, Beane said, “the numbers, the mathematics will work if you trust them and are disciplined. It was from that moment on that I knew that we were all in. That we had a better chance if we trusted completely numbers as opposed to our own guts.”

What is it that dealers can take away from Billy Beane’s change-up? Beane himself explained that using Data for business simply makes more sense than other methods. He said It’s all about evaluating skills and putting a price on them. Thirty years ago, stockbrokers used to buy stock strictly by feel. Anyone in the game with a 401k has a choice. They can choose a fund manager who manages their retirement by gut instinct, or one who chooses by research and analysis. I know which way I’d choose.”

As dealers make decisions about how to innovate as technology and customers change, it’s worthwhile to look at what you do and determine why you do it, and if there is a better way. Beane certainly risked his job and reputation by using data verses gut in managing America’s game. Time will tell which dealers out there step outside the box to find new solutions to old dealer problems.