For those of us who are basketball fans, we are entering the most exciting time of the season.  In high school sports, boys and girls are heading into their sectional tournaments, sometimes known the “the second season,” with hopes of a long tournament run.  School spirit heightens with the anticipation of very competitive games.  Pep rallies, spirit days, and ticket lines are all part of the event.

From the college perspective, this time of year is known as “March Madness.”  NCAA Division One basketball teams are working hard to earn an invite to the NCAA Tournament or “The Big Dance.”  ESPN dedicates several hours on “Selection Sunday” to announcing which teams have made it and, if so, who they play, how tough their bracket is, and how far they need to travel to the tournament site.

Whether in high school or college, coaches will scramble to pick up game tapes and lay out their strategies.  What type of offense will the opponent run? How tall and quick are they? Do they have a lot of contributors or do they only play 6 or 7 players? And, of course, what type of defense will they play?  As the saying goes, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.”  These game tapes are disected to determine what type of defense to expect from their opponent – man-to-man, zone, box-in-one, run-and-jump – as well as which type of defense should be used against their opponent.  How aggressive should they be?  Should they simply contain their opponent or be more aggressive to force the action?

You may wonder what all this has to do with insurance, loss control, and loss prevention.  As with the game of basketball, loss prevention starts with an analysis of the situation, gathering all the information needed to put together the game plan.  Who are the players who will make change?  How deep on the bench do you need to go to encourage good loss prevention practices?  What type of defense against losses do you plan to use?  If you are an agent or carrier, how aggressive will you be to force action?

What loss prevention approach have you taken in your business?  Are you simply containing or are you taking aggressive action?  If you compared your work team to a top tier basketball team on your defensive game, how would you rank? Sweet sixteen? Final four?  Remember…great defense wins championships and protects your business!