Yah. I said it. I’m doing something very wrong. In fact, with respect to blogging and social media, it relates to one of the biggest pieces of advice I’d give other people. Not that I’m such a big advisor, I just have a big mouth and am “a little” opinionated. Read more…
Here’s a tip for presales engineers selling complex technology.
There we go, I’m already off on a tangent. My poor brain.
You see, I said “…engineers selling…” Yep, that’s the job of the sales engineer. Don’t fool yourselves. You get paid to sell. You’re the people with the credibility. Where the sales person manages the mechanics of the sales process, it’s the sales engineer that establishes credibility and demonstrates value.
I was once questioned by a customer about a higher price than a competitor (a distributor who took my design and priced it). My response… “you pay more because you get me.” It’s a funny story, but suffice it to say that I was lucky my sales guy was on vacation that day. He would have had heart failure at my response, and he would have just matched the distributor’s price. I sold the value (along with a little humor) and the customer agreed. They purchased at our higher price.
Anyways, back on track. Read more…
Was talking to a friend the other day, and a great metaphor popped into my head. It was a metaphor appropriate to what she was experiencing, but also to what we’re doing here at Where’s Your Heart?.
Where’s Your Heart? is about the change occurring in our culture. About our priorities, our relationships, and importantly how we relate to the world around us. You might say, it’s more of a feminine energy. You might be right. It’s actually more about the shared experience of life and the energy it manifests. Once you connect to this energy, you realize it conspires for us. It supports us, and it’s right there where we need it to be. All we need to do is trust it.
I say “all we need to do” like it’s easy or something! Read more…
Just like everyone else, I’ve been following the launch of the iNewton iPad closely.
I wonder why no one is talking more about the following…
OK, so by now it’s pretty well established that I nit-pick things, have an acute sense of observation, and a big enough mouth to broadcast my astonishment at the funny things I notice around me. I’m learning how to be more positive and keep my mouth shut more… but I just couldn’t pass this one up.
Was looking at Google News to see what’s going on up in Massachusetts for the special election, and I noticed that a section on Israel and the Palestinian Authority had a weird side photo:
I'm pretty sure they didn't want that picture of the tennis player in there!
OK, curious, but not really interesting… until I saw the article section on the election. Now, that’s a funny photo!
A little sexist, no?
So, what’s the deal? Now, I’m wondering how Google comes up with the photos that show up, and if someone’s having a good time at their expense.
Last week’s sales kickoff in Orlando, combined with our (Progress’) acquisition of Savvion, and my delivery of the keynote solution sales pitch (broadcast to the entire company) has left my head spinning. I’ve got a few posts in mind, but mostly have a real interest in blogging more in spite of the lack of time and uncertainty/stress here at Progress with our new org structure.
I figure, best way to start is to start, and let the details work themselves out.
I realized during one of my sessions, that I’m getting kinda predictable. Every time I discuss Actional with the field, I harp on the same issue… Read more…
I’m an emotional guy. It works both for me and against me. Sometimes though, the facts speak for themselves.
Here’s the riddle.
You have a mobile phone plan with 1,000 EDGE (mobile) minutes, and unlimited UMA usage (UMA is a proprietary VoIP technology that T-Mobile offers). You are charged $0.40 for each minute over the pre-paid 1,000 on the EDGE/Mobile network.
Over the course of 1 billing cycle, you use 900 EDGE minutes and 900 UMA minutes…
How much overage do you incur? Read more…
Originally posted on October 22nd, 2007 over at Progress.
I’ve noticed that, like Rudy Giuliani, I still purchase my clothes a few sizes too big. While I can’t speak for Rudy, somewhere deep inside I’ve been conditioned to think that when I buy clothes, I have to buy them big and “grow into them.” I rationalize this by enjoying the fact that I can go shopping just once every few years.
It’s a silly eccentricity that, according to Freud, I can just blame on my mother. I’m not going to grow any more and really don’t need to buy pants that will fit perfectly in a few years. I need pants that fit now. Besides, even if I were still growing, by the time my clothes fit properly, I’d probably need a wardrobe update to account for new standards styles and business requirements personal preferences.
I know, I bore you with my neurosis. SOA What? Read more…
Originally posted on October 4th, 2007 at Progress.
I was about to enter a meeting yesterday, when a peek into the room showed me everyone dressed “business casual.” Seeing as I was wearing a suit and didn’t want to be overdressed, I flipped off my shoes and headed on in.
It wasn’t long before someone commented on my suit. Thankful for ability to think on my feet, I pointed to my socks and said, “I realized the suit was a bit formal so I ix-nayed the footwear… on average, I’m business casual.”
When the clamor in the room subsided, the general consensus was that I was insane. Read more…
Originally posted August 28th, 2007 at Progress.
I have this fantasy that I’ll quit this labor of love here at Progress, and start a real career selling t-shirts with street-signs-that-would-be-funny-as-t-shirt-sayings. Always on the lookout for that breakout sign, today I found one to share.
I drove by this big rig with a sign on the side, behind the driver’s door, that said “you are in my blind spot.” I thought, how funny would it be if I wore that on the front of a t-shirt when I did my next product presentation? (Answer: Very funny!)
In the car with time to think, I thought about that developer at a major bank I was working with who knew his blind spot, but seemed helpless to avoid the resulting pain.
Fact is, he had two blind spots… one he knew about and one he didn’t. Read more…
