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…
As some of you know, I’m working on starting a non-profit that will improve people’s lives through charitable living. My idea is to bring people together around global events and generate infectious positive energy that will give participants a sense of fulfillment and purpose. The rewards we’ll receive by participating will reinforce our place in the community, rather than our current materialistic habits. I believe our culture is changing, and we’re going to lead the charge.
I was at a sake tasting last night listening to a lecture on how sake is made. I got a real sense for the craftsmanship that goes into sake making. It seems that high end sake almost exclusively does one key part of the process by hand, though they could easily get machines to do something almost as good.
Was just on the phone with my hand surgeon’s office making an appointment. Turns out, I need x-rays before the appointment. The receptionist says “would you like to hold so I can call and make the appointment with the x-ray lab for you?”
She must have taken my stunned silence for yes, because she efficiently left and returned confirming my appointment and answering my question before I could even verbalize it (Yes, I do need to wait for the film to be developed and then bring them and my hands to the office).
How’s that for service? Surprised. Maybe you wouldn’t be if I told you that this doctor is not in my insurance plan.
My friend Sal posted a unique tip for using Twitter favorites as a way to learn more about people. He noticed his own behavior of using others’ favorites to better get to know them. Simple, and different than most of the tips out there. Sal’s a good thinker and this is a perfect example of a tip that separates itself from the noise.
Here’s one I’ve been using myself recently, and I thought I’d share.
On a birthday post in 2007 (my, time flies!) I was defending what I actually do… and to save you the trouble reading it – the kicker was that it took me years to realize that my Grandfather “made stuff” whereas I really just “talk a lot”.
Today, it’s different. I mean, I still talk a lot, but that non-profit I’m starting… A lawyer asked where we were based. Huh? Two of three founders are in NY, the other Wyoming. If we consider phone numbers, we can add Nevada to that list. I’ll probably use my home in NJ as the address, just because I’m moving apartments in NY and at least that’s consistent. I thought about the location of the technology infrastructure we’re deploying, but
where the heck is GoDaddy?
I think Todd Biske was bold in writing a book around SOA Governance that focused mostly on the people side of things. From memory, two key points Todd made were:
I’ve thought quite a bit about the book, which I liked a lot (and reference quite regularly), and the things I learned came out in yet another form at today’s Cloud Computing Expo. I was talking about a best practice for successfully implementing cloud computing in the enterprise. In particular, how to build momentum and drive a culture of collaboration… and I said:
Tell them what you want them to do, and they’ll resist. Tell them why you want them to do it, and they’ll amaze you with the ways they get it done.
