Skip to main content

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 honor to be described with one, very succinct, very descriptive, and very positive word. Relevant.

So few are.

Comments

J. Tod Fetherling said…
My former company was Relegent. Relevant Intelligence. Was I ahead of my time?
June 17, 2010 at 7:49 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Patron Saint of Salespeople

St. Lucia or St. Lucy is the Patron Saint of salespeople. Her story?? She stood strong in her faith and was persecuted because of it. She was hooked to a team of oxen, but could not be moved. She stood strong in her beliefs. Then she had her eyes cut out and was stabbed in the throat. Nice metaphor. In October, I missed my 'quota' for the first time this year. My 2010 personal goals allowed for this (plus one actually), but I was attempting to pitch the sales equivalent of a no-hitter. I missed. Even though I am still at roughly 150% YTD Even though I am guaranteed to go to President's Club (they've already listed it under 'taxable gift' on my last paystub). Even though I will almost assuredly be in the Top 10 nationwide..... Even though I have not been dragged away by a team of oxen, I still feel my eyes on a plate. But, I'm the one doing the gouging. There is no one as critical of me as me. Self-flagellation....works well with the Patron Saint/Catholic mot
Post a Comment
Read more

Telecommoditization: Part 2 / Fungibility

Fungibility is a fun word. I look forward to beating several CIOs and IT Directors over the head with it. Fungibility seems to be the defining word for what makes a commodity. The nut-shell definition for fungibility is "the same regardless of who creates it." Every telecom provider has a multitude of differences, therefore they are not fungible. Since most people tend to LOVE to talk about the negative, let's focus there. Ask any IT professional about their telecom provider. They will generally grumble and whine (typically these people hate their lives) and tell you about EVERYTHING that is wrong with their telecom providers. Each story will have different issues and problems. Each will show the weaknesses of a given provider. Logically this shows that we (telco's) are all different and not fungible. Also if each provider has different weaknesses, we must have strengths. There is an old telecom mantra "Everybody sucks, we suck less." In future blogs I will
3 comments
Read more

Say it succinctly

I saw a play today. It was based on a movie that had, as one of it's primary characters, a very famous person. Fans of the movie will love the play. Many critics will have a field day with this play. It, for me, wasn't great. I took my mom to see it, and we had a nice bit of brunch beforehand, so it had that as a positive. My primary issue? It was too long. Two and one-half hours. It was longer than the movie it was based on. It also had, at it's center, a somewhat outdated and highly repetitive theme. It took two hours to repeat the same concepts a movie had made, much more enjoyably, two decades earlier. 'Les Miz' gets a much larger point across, in less time. So...how does this translate to my 'somewhat-business related blog?" Be Succinct. We strive daily to make our points. We inform, persuade, and influence our clients by making a point. We also (and I can be one of the worst) tend to prattle on. We like to hear ourselves talk. Let's work on that.
2 comments
Read more