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Showing posts from June, 2010

Hug a Salesperson Day / July 1st

It's not official, but I'm working on it. But on July 1st go hug a sales rep...... tell them Johnny sent you. Salespeople are often scorned, belittled, hated, stereotyped, parodied.....you get the point. The most common complaints: 1. Too much freedom 2. Too much pay 3. Too much....literally, just too much. If you don't understand #3 go hang out with a sales team To some degree the above are all true. But those of us that are truly good earn it. We earn our pay by breaking many of the 'social-contracts' that other walks of life wouldn't fathom. Have you ever called a C-level executive and explained why he can't do his job without you? We have. Have you ever created a sense of urgency and generated revenue for your company that wasn't there yesterday? We have. Have you ever felt the pressure of an entire team/market/region looking to a select few to be the difference between success and failure? We have. On July 2nd you can go back to hating us, but on Ju

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

"Everything that can be invented has been invented" ....Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. patent office, 1899 A few words for Mr. Duell: myopic, hubris, closed-minded, jaded. One of the more dangerous and limiting side-effects of expertise is the tyranny of one's own opinion. Those who know me know I often speak with passion and conviction, and am also highly opinionated. Those who know me also have often heard me say "I will screw up a percentage of everything I touch." I work very hard to keep the percentage low. If I can get it to single digits, that would be great. It will never reach zero. I try to keep this in mind at all times. Action requires decisiveness. Decisiveness means risk. The more decisiveness the more risk, the more risk the more mistakes. Babe Ruth struck out more often than most of his counterparts. It's a difficult thing in life to take a stance, push what you think, and drive action. It's even more difficult to be open to the con

Are you Relevant?

Relevant....with a big 'R'. Would that classify you? A new friend used this word to describe one of his employees. It was a high compliment. I will now attempt to summarize what I think he meant. 1. He cares....probably not 'warm and fuzzy" type of care, but more integrity based care. 2. He has an educated and strong opinion. It's based on hours and hours of 'trial by fire' experience, and when he gives his opinion it comes with the scrapes, cuts, and bruised knuckles (literal and metaphorical) of building something right. 3. He plans ahead. Training, demos, webinars, etc, etc etc. Keeping ahead of the knowledge curve. 4. Ability to see the big picture. If the product is great, but the manufacturer is heading in a wrong direction he can weigh that out, understand the client needs, and consult accordingly. Buying a product and doing business with a company are two different things. These are just a few. I'm sure I've missed something. But what an hon

"Living well is the best revenge."

English clergyman and poet, George Herbert, is credited with the quote "The best revenge is living well." I use the quote often, and strive to live up to it's message. It's an incredibly comforting idea, and seems to suggest one should free their mind of petty angers and focus on the pursuit of success and happiness. Are you waiting for a 'but, here's the thing'??? Happy to oblige..... Sometimes the best revenge is.....revenge. A common etymology is shared by the words 'vindictive' and 'vindicate'. The former has a large degree of negativity associated with it, the latter not as much. "Vindicate" is given the following meanings: "To provide justification or defense for."....."To maintain a right to" ......an obsolete definition is simply "to set free". So....one of my primary job requirements is to make suggestions, consult, recommend. I'm paid when clients buy from me, but I'm paid well and c

Talking to my competitors? ...you should be.

In a conversation with one of the largest companies in town the other day, the following was discussed: Me: "OK...small, but important call center. And you currently use...?" Client:"AT&Z"....... (I've changed the providers name for anonymity) Me: "And tell me again, your issue?" Client: "We keep going down. It's an issue with the facilities coming into the building. We need some sort of backup." Me: "Agreed. Who have you looked at for this backup?" Client: "We talked to our AT&Z team." Silence for a few seconds........ Me: "OK...how'd that work for you?" Client: "Well the corporate IT team seems to prefer AT&Z, but you guys are more attentive, provide better service, are more nimble, and are a tad less expensive. Plus your fiber is in the building, which means we could eliminate the single point of failure by using you guys." Me: "Agreed. So what are our next steps?" Clien

You're posts say alot

Yes...I know....the title is grammatically offensive. That's my point. In the age of Social Media everyone seems to be posting, blogging, or tweeting to their hearts content. Language and it's rules have become subverted and I understand, but will not condone, the abbreviated and code-like vernacular that goes so well with our digital communication. I believe our 'digital shorthand' all started with the advent of email and IM. Mobile devices, with their tiny keypads, seem to drive the bastardization of language. Tweets almost require abbreviation to get your point across in 140 words, so LOL/OMG/ROFL/etc have become a reality. Facebook allows for more lengthy interactions, but the abbreviated vernacular seems to be how people seem to think. I'll tolerate it. What I can't tolerate is when I see professionals slaughter the English language on business related blogs, websites, or posts. LinkedIn is a good example. Today, I read a thread on LinkedIn that was chock