Not that you asked, but I have some things to say.

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...

Using an RFP to select a vendor is like selecting a girlfriend by how well she writes a book review....of a bad romance novel. It is my experience that RFPs are for suckers and chumps. They tend to only benefit consultants and write down revenue for incumbents. They are a 'price-first', one-sided discussion that tends to rob the bidding parties of any ability to bring value. As you may guess, I am working through an RFP bid. It's a biggie, and I am hopeful and optimistic (both of which are signs of weakness in the sales world). But my company is truly a great fit. I made several mistakes in this particular process, all of which could be traced back to my general distaste of RFPs. Ten years of training has ingrained in me this is a lost cause 95% of the time. I was apathetic. This particular RFP seems to fall in the other 5%.....we will see. I will embrace this process, push to win, and act as though the RFP is my best friend. I will put on my suit and a smile. I will do eve...

I crave, long for, desire, and pray for the ability to be precise. I strive to eliminate as much guess work as possible from my line of work, and be an expert...a consultant...a highly valuable resource. But....I realize more and more that I am a blunt instrument. At my best (and I am one of the best), I am still more of a baseball bat than I am a scalpel. I am realizing that this is not a unique situation to me. Our world is filled with experts. These experts, however, are generally no more than educated guessers. I have discussed in the past that the more moving parts something has, the more likely it will break. I think the same could be said for experts. The more we need to know, the less precise we will ultimately be. I have to study my clients, create urgency, understand my service offerings, understand my competitors, study the technology that my service plugs into, read minds, win hearts, overcome objections, change perceptions, psychoanalyze, pontificate, evangalize, etc. etc....

As my career has advanced, I find myself constantly evaluating the opportunities I encounter. Every solution, once designed and quoted, gets a mental forecast. I evaluate the likelihood of winning 'the deal' and then assign a percentage in my mind. It is an atypical process. I have to be an optimistic skeptic. On many occasions I have been overly optimistic, thinking to myself "I got this", only to lose. Ironically this scenario seems to occur when I never had a chance to begin with, when the final decision is more of a non-decision or when there is an unknown obstacle. On many occasions I have been overly skeptical, thinking to myself "No chance", only to win. Ironically this scenario seems to occur when I did have all of the facts, and just didn't trust them. To be truly objective about a situation that you are emotionally and financially involved in is tough. The incentive and drive to win can make accepting loss very difficult. However, the more succ...

According to many sources there are roughly 154,000 deaths in the world daily. Today I lost a family member to cancer, my aunt Bobbie, a wonderfully unique woman. She stood apart from the rest of our family. She was individualistic, headstrong, and pragmatic. She seemed to know how to carve out the life that she wanted, from what was available. She was often 'alone' by societal standards , i.e. unmarried, but seldom seemed lonely. She was enviable in her ability to be self-sufficient. More than most people I know, she lived according to her standards. She seemed to often befuddle those around her with her choices. Mostly, due to the fact that she didn't strive to live up to someone else's definition of normal. I'm sure many in her life could have been often disappointed.....people carry too many expectations. I found her rather inspiring.More than any other person in my family, she served as a role model on how to be true to your self. To be well balanced, we must b...

I try to avoid any soda that uses high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I have my concerns about the impact of HFCS on overall health, and studies show that HFCS may be more difficult to metabolize, hence harder on the body, than cane sugar. I don't really drink that many sodas, and I have about a dozen things I would prioritize as more important to my overall health (i.e. getting my lazy ass to a gym.) But..I can tell a major taste difference. HFCS sodas have a distinct taste that, when compared to sodas using cane sugar, are just.... different. I can tell, even in a blind taste test, the absolute difference. So.....what's my point? I would be willing to bet that more than half of the people I know would tell me I was crazy. They would insist that there was really no difference. I find this amusing because there is a definitive and empirical difference. HFCS is not the same as cane sugar. Do a little research on how the two are made....it will surprise you. How many of you in the s...

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. ...