Skip to main content

Flexible Friday

Beginning last week, I made the declaration of "Flexible Fridays"....and defined my Fridays as belonging exclusively to me. I will choose to not work most Fridays. My work load may make this difficult, but it is up to me to control this.

I am going to focus on writing/completing my novel. I find myself repeating this to people. I feel like I have to justify such a radical decision as declaring Fridays as no longer a part of what my base salary covers. I shouldn't have to justify this with words....my past performance, choices, and personal goals justify this decision for me.

My sales have been and continue to remain in the top tier within my market and company. I often forget what my quota is. I can tell you what my top accelerators are, and what my commission caps are. My quota, I have to back into or check my comp plan.

My choices have been pretty relevant to this decision too. I have weathered storm after storm for the past 9 years with the same company. I realized the grass was the same color everywhere, and it was up to me to grow it (insert "John is full of shit, so good fertilizer" joke here....yes most of you are that predictable.) I have turned down certain offers to advance into management. I don't want the hassle or the pay-cut. By staying a rep, and building 'my franchise' I am able to make certain decisions (like Flexible Fridays) that many of my own management team cannot.

My goals include the completion (and hopefully publication) of my novel. To achieve this goal, along with my career and other personal goals, Fridays had to be reclaimed. This was the only way to control my desired level of balance. I will strive to make this decision continue to be an option for me.

So....if you are a client and are reading this.....let's try to get the weekly tasks wrapped up by Thursday.....Thanks!

Comments

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...

One-Quarter Cleansing Cream

In 1955, the now legendary Ogilvy and Mather advertising firm began their campaign with Dove. "One-quarter cleansing cream" is, to this day, a corporate tag-line for Dove. The company was profitable in its very first year, an extreme rarity in personal-care products. Ogilvy and Mather stress their ad campaign and the Dove tag-line they created as being responsible for such success. Dove's ubiquitous tagline was created when David Ogilvy, the dynamic mind behind Ogilvy and Mather asked the question "Well, may I know the formula?" When the good people at Dove explained the ingredients, Mr. Ogilvy found out that the soap he was hired to advertise was only three-fourths soap. One-fourth of Dove soap was a compound with the generic name of "cleansing cream". Mr. Ogilvy saw this as a major differentiator and helped create a brand that became a household name. His trademark pursuit of an exceptional story to tell for his clients, created an approach that...

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...