Dirty Tricks, Crooked Yardsticks & Other Ways NOT to Measure Success
In his book Hardball: How politics is played by one who knows the game, journalist and former Congressional staffer Chris Matthews refers to two popular political tricks he calls “lowballing” and “sandbagging.”
Sandbagging is the practice of setting unrealistic expectations for your opponent that he can never hope to meet.
Lowballing, on the other hand, is setting artificially low expectations for yourself that you can easily surpass.
During the 2004 presidential debates between the eloquent Senator John Kerry and the famously gaffe-prone President George W. Bush, President Bush’s campaign was able to successfully “sandbag” Kerry’s rhetorical skills and “lowball” the President’s. When the two candidates met face to face and Bush didn’t completely collapse, many media outlets afterward proclaimed the president’s victory.
Setting expectations is an important part of working with clients. You never want to “lowball” yourself, but you need to set realistic goals and agree ahead of time on what success looks like.
If it’s not realistic, promising your clients the moon, the stars and the New York Times is a bad idea – even if it’s what they want to hear. It’s better to recalibrate unrealistic expectations early on than have to explain yourself later.
At the same time, playing it safe by setting the bar too low also does everyone a disservice.
When you and the client are on the same page, you can accurately measure the campaign’s success…and celebrate together when all your hard work pays off.
- Tim Frisbie
