life

Why Your Network Stinks

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Have a lot of followers on Twitter?  Nice.   A gazillion friends on Facebook? Cool.  500+ LinkedIn connections?  I’m happy for you.

Sometimes that don’t mean nothin’ though.

Marlene, one very talented trainer on the West Coast, reminded those of us gathered for workshops last week about the real value of a good network. 

A real network, Marlene taught us, is about how you compliment each other and how you leverage what is different about you.   A real network isn’t about how many of you there are or worse, about how many of you there are that are just like you all connected.

Marlene made us publicly identify the unique skills of our in-room “network” and record them in a literal (and of course, metaphorical) little black book allowing each of us to walk out with a networking gem.

“Use this book” she said “to tap into the help you need when you need it from your network.”

Thanks Marlene.  I think we sometimes forget that

  • A real network aligns you the sales expert with Jimmy the time management guru because one day you’ll both need each other when you finally decide to go chase that dream together.

 

  • A real network aligns you the online marketing savant with Sandy the offline marketing pro when that prospect you share just wants to grow the heck out of her business and yes she’s still got brick and mortar on Main Street. 

 

  • A real network aligns you the call center supervisor with Art the field sales manager when Art needs to beef up his team’s phone skills and you need to start dabbling in feet on the street.

 

Networks need to work.  And while amassing lots of fans who like you (and too often are like you), seems to be the focus for so many of us today, the better approach should be asking how does this connection fill the gaps that each of us have.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Yes To 5 Minute Eggs

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my egg timer style

Yes, I have an egg timer.  

I read that book.  And it works.  Turn an egg timer on for 5 minutes and just go do it.   Tackle that pile of paper, clean that corner of the basement, start to read that trade magazine.

I carry that egg timer with me these days.  5 minutes is a long time.  Longer than you think and you get a whole lot accomplished. 

Go find the egg timer and use it.   Here are five 5 minute preps for your work week that’ll deliver results sunny side up. 

5 Minutes in the Car:  You got a commute longer than 5 minutes don’t you?  Well start that egg timer as soon as you hear a commercial block starting on that radio and listen; really listen.   You’ll hear all sorts of sales and marketing angles from credibility language to teasers to senses of urgency.  These commercial writers are pros.  They know how to get attention of a listener in no time; learn from them.

5 Minutes at the Coffee Shop.  Start your egg timer and walk in.  Walk up to a contractor, retailer, manufacturer or whomever you help, smile and say “I talk to folks like you all day, what’s the biggest challenge these days? And what’s going well? “Remember what they say and use it that day on the phone, in the field, on Twitter, on Facebook..  “ I was just talking to a customer this AM and he said….”  Yes, that credibility alone will get you some interest and sales.

5 Minutes with Your Catalogue.  Open to a random page and pick two products.  Raise your right hand and say “I will sell these today”.   Then take the remaining 4 minutes and 34 seconds and study.  Study the problems these products solve, the way they help make things better, the specs and the interest raising questions that go with them.  You’ll spot more opportunities because of it and yes, you’ll sell them, I assure you.

5 Minutes with Jeffrey Gitomer.  Grab any of his books, Little Red Book of Selling, The Sales Bible, The Little Teal Book of Trust or a half a dozen others.    They are everywhere around your building or your cube or just go to his site.  Start reading anywhere in his books for 5 minutes.  It’s some of the best prep for your day you can do no matter what job you have.

5 Minutes to Answer These Questions.  Grab a pen and write.    Who do I do this for? What do I love about what I do?  How will I truly help people today?    Look at your three answers and call the first right now and tell them you love them again.  Repeat the second to yourself three times.  And every time you accomplish the third; stand, smile and take a bow.  Your colleagues won’t know what the heck is going on but believe it or not there is nothing better you could be doing for you, your customers or your company.

Based on the average words people read per minute, you’ve got about 3 minutes left if you want to start that egg timer right now.  Crank her up.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

3 Crazy Causation Theories

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There is that “correlation not causation” perspective that people talk about.   I ran across it most recently last week reading something, somewhere, about Diet Coke. 

Some article talked about a reputable study a couple of years ago suggesting that you, the Diet Coke drinker, were by some large and scary percentage,  more likely to become obese if you drank Diet Coke vs. someone who did not drink Diet Coke. 

Good Times.  I love Diet Coke. 

Thankfully the article reminded us that the study was flawed because what you really had a hard time discerning was if those people who were becoming or were already obese, had decided to start drinking Diet Coke while “obesing” vs. the other way around so to speak.  Hence though there may be a “correlation” between Diet Coke and obesity, there is not necessarily, “causation” from Diet Coke to obesity.

There is a lot of that crazy “causation” stuff out there in the sales world too. 

Crazy Causation Theory # 1:  Successful salespeople have the best accounts; they don’t make half the calls or presentations you do, but are still raking in the most dough.

Ah….yes…I had the worst sales territory in the world back in my day.  I was insanely jealous of my fellow sales reps that had the best accounts or territory. 

So yes dear colleague of today, you are right; the successful reps often don’t make nearly as many calls as you do and they do have the best accounts.  Truth is though; their phone rings more often and their inboxes fill up faster than yours does.  When they do call out, they are more effective than you.  More often than not, these successful reps artfully cultivate customers, drive referrals through them and in essence, have and continue to deliver greater experiences to their clients thereby creating a misperception to the rest of us about what exactly causes what. 

Hats off to you Jack Barry in 1994, you’re territory was the best, but now I know you weren’t lucky; rather, you made it so. 

Crazy Causation Theory #2; The more calls or offers you make, the more sales you’ll get.

Nope, not in this business.  That adage in sales that  “It’s all a numbers game” is a horrible lie.  Never believe it.  Many of you reading this are you are working with a finite list of existing customers or prospects, or of calls coming into you; which you usually cannot control.

Pounding out calls or making 5 offers/closes on every incoming/outgoing call to a finite universe doesn’t make the sales; quality contacts do.  In Outbound calling, it’s even more dangerous.  Pound out some self serving, rapid fire voicemails or live monologues to your assigned clients hoping to the sales gods above that you caught the customer exactly when they have a need and you’ll put yourself in a worse position 6 weeks later or 6 months later when you try and sell them something else.   Customers want help, not pitches and power dialing.

If you have the world as your territory and the yellow pages as your lead source; yes indeed, it is all a numbers game then.  For a while.  Make as many calls and offers as you want.  And have fun with that as you’ll last about 6 months before you can’t wait to quit.  No worries, your boss already a replacement ready to backfill you who has the same false belief.

Crazy Causation Theory #3:   The harder you work, the more successful you will be.  

That ain’t true in sales.  It may be true for cemetery workers (been there, worked hard despite my co-workers’ slacker cries to “slow down!”).  It may be true for grocery baggers (worked hard there too and loved the job) and forklift operators (worked hard and proudly with no incidents thank you), but it is not true in sales.  Working hard just is not enough. 

Working hard will only get you so far; here is what else you need:

  • Acting skills: ( Be a story teller & have the ability to make your 41st  performance today look and sound like your first)
  • Thirst for knowledge and self learning. (Pssst… the webpage functionality just changed 5 minutes ago and your product offer is now outdated.  Do you really want to wait for the memo or the training on that? )
  • Mental Positivity.  If you close 15 % of your leads /opportunities then you are a ROCK STAR though that means the other 85% reject you.  Working harder doesn’t help you here.
  • Sales Skills; Have no idea where you are in the sales process or what a good question is vs. a bad one?  Good luck working hard here while you are in the dark.
  • Help:  Few sales stars work in a vacuum. They are not afraid to ask for help, seek guidance and even demand coaching.

 

There.  Now go chill and have a Diet Coke.  No causation there to worry about.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

From The Red Book

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I carry a little red book around with me.  I write things in there that I like, I hate, I worry about or get excited about.  I bet you all have a little book or notepad too.

I looked through it over the weekend.   These strike me as things I want to write more about, support or rail against, or just plain share and do something more with. 

How about you?

  • I hate that human condition that drives online business reviews. Have a problem and you rant online no matter how little the issue.  Skews everything. Totally unfair.

 

  • I doesn’t matter much if you have the newest tools or software on your desk (like a new CRM for example) if you have no desire to change your routine or results to begin with. 

 

  • Listening is cool.  But If you can’t get your client to talk to you, what the heck is there to listen to?

 

  • Coaching is hard.  Coaching to stats, processes and order entry is easy vs. coaching to communication, selling and service skills.  That latter will grow the business and former will give you the chance to do it.   

 

  • It’s only a matter of time before what’s credible on the internet matters more than that something is in fact, on the internet.  And that time is very soon.

 

  • Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and all the rest haven’t changed us.  We have always loved, and needed a network of engaged, trusted friends and colleagues.   That need has always been there; it’s the tools that keep changing.

 

  • Glen Garry Glen Ross is simply the greatest sales movie ever and is Jack Lemmon’s best performance. The language is rough but the Mamet writing is priceless.

 

  • Ever notice on Mad Men how they have to sit the prospects down in the 60’s and explain in detail what marketing and advertising is in order to sell it?  Well we gotta do the same thing somehow these days when we sell online marketing.  It’s still kinda foreign to people.

 

  • Service Reps have the most satisfying job in the world.  You pros here know what I am talking about.

 

  • Open ended questions are so overrated unless you have some trust established; otherwise it’s just offensive. 

 

  • Adult learning theory continues to be disproved over and over again as weak.  It’s about “what” is being trained that matters, not the learning “style” of folks. ( Just as I suspected :))

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Kill all Leads, Commissions and Sales Reps

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I’m done with these three.

You should be too.  It’s tough because I worked them, fed my family with them and have been one for a lot of my life.

But I don’t believe anymore in what we call these three.

We need to change the names of these things.   It would do us wonders on so many levels.   Bad names can hurt what people think about you.  Bad names can hurt what you think about yourself.

And I’m done with that.

**

Leads.  Ugh.  Please, this is word is the worst offender.  “Give me the leads”.  “The leads stink”.  “I need more leads”.  The word “leads” just reeks of a faceless commodity. 

Change the word to “Needs”.  Every lead is really a person or people with a need.  And every Need has a solution or a way it can be filled.  A Need is customer focused.  A Need is something to rally around.  A Lead on the other hand, is blah.  A Lead is for us.  And “us” should not be the focus.

Think of what would change and how we might feel or do differently if:

Leadflow becomes Needflow. Lead Management becomes Need Management. Lead Generation becomes Need Generation.  Isn’t that better?

Commission. An ugly heinous word in sales don’t you think?  A word so commonly hated that many companies go out of their way to advertise that their sales pros are not paid on something so ghastly as to be called “commission”. 

Let the Commission Plan become a Mission Plan that “rewards” behaviors and results.  “Commission” the word, disappears and “Rewards” becomes the lead story.  “Rewards Pay” details not what portion of a sale price goes to a rep but what portion is added to the reps pay as a reward for behavior or results. Semantics?  Yes, my point exactly.

“Rewards” the word doesn’t sound like a “take” or “cut” or an “added cost” to a client ( or to the sales rep).   Rewards are awarded by the boss or the company for a mission accomplished well.

Think of what would change and how we might feel or do differently if:

Commission payout becomes Rewards payout. Higher Commissions become Higher Rewards. I work on Commission becomes I work on Rewards.  Client Commissions become Client Rewards.  Isn’t that better?

Sales Rep:  Ah….. the almighty fearful title.  For at least 60 years people have tried variations to hide or mask or those two words.  Nobody it seems wants to be called a Sales Rep.  No doubt you’ve heard or have been an “Account Executive” or a “Territory Manager” or a “Sr. Business Development Mgr” and on and on….. all the while being um…..well, a Sales Rep.

Truth is, the name “Sales Rep” sucks.  It has always sucked.

It’s not customer focused, it’s company focused.  It’s not broad sounding, it’s narrow sounding.  It’s got one of the most stereotyped images around of greed, neglect and selfishness.

The new name is simple. 

Help Rep.

Help.  It’s what any true sales rep really does anyway.  Help fill a need.  Help fix a problem.  Help make something better. Help you feel happy or organized or in control.  Help you grow your business. Help you run your business.  

Think of what would change and how we might feel or do differently if:

You walk into a Macy’s store and you talk to a Macy’s Help Rep, or walk on a car lot and talk to at Toyota Help Rep, or call Deluxe Corp and get a Deluxe Help Rep.

Maybe all the Help Reps fly in for a big Help Conference in Chicago called the Big Help.   Maybe there Help Contests for the Help Reps.  Maybe you get better and better at Helping vs. better and better at Selling. 

**

Pretty simple stuff these changes are to make.  And if we just do it I swear we could change a little bit of the world.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

An Heartfelt Letter From Your Headset

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Dear Sweetie,

It’s about to get real busy again, so I wanted to write you this letter now.  

You and I don’t talk as much as we used to (at least not to each other).  Maybe it’s because I get up into your hair sometimes and am literally in your face all day, but our love feels like it’s waning.

I’ve been noticing some things and just need to get them off my padding before we settle in for our next push together to grow our business.  We’ve had great run together so far this year baby and I want it to continue.

I feel like I am in one ear and not the other.  And I’m not liking this trend.   A lot of the time I’m just hugging your right ear while the rest of me that should be on your left ear,  is dangling in your split ends.    I guess you do that so you can hear better the conversations of your friends or the Twitter feed or whatever.   But I like hugging you baby.   All of you.   Put me back on both of your ears and I think you’ll do better at your job too.   I can help you focus.

I’ve noticed your wandering eye.   Resist the One Eared ones dear.  Those headsets are trouble.  Oh sure, they dance around looking all sleek and sporty with that single ear “come hither” look.  I’ve seen some too that prance around without cords going brazenly wireless but they are bad news.  Don’t dump me for one of those honey, that just sends the wrong message all around.  You have got to listen and listen real good when talking with folks on the phone; that’s how we’re going to grow the business.  I’ve seen you staring at those One Eared ones though.  And while you can look; you cannot touch. 

You don’t show me a good time so much anymore.   My microphone has hit the monitors at least six times this year and you must remember the two times I got caught in the keyboard your head was so smashed up against the displays.   There used to be a time when talking to folks that you’d spin us around and look out the window or at the plants nearby.  Good times.    Seems you always had better and smarter conversations too when you weren’t obsessing with what’s on that darn desktop.   I want those days back love muffin, I really do.

You don’t smile at me as much lately.  When we first met you smiled and laughed a lot.   Sure, the job is hard but I miss your smile schnookems.  Smile on purpose and keep it fresh.  Heck, I’ve got hair gel, food crumbs and who knows what else encrusted on me ( which reminds me I could use a good cleaning) but everyday I try and make my sounds as fresh and clear as a daisy for you.    You have great smile and a great laugh and it may be the 50th person we’ve talked to today and we’re both tired, but heck,  being happy and positive is why I fell for you in the first place.

I don’t mean to sound all negative.  I don’t.   I feel so connected to you sweetie.  We are a great team.  Let’s buckle in.   The closer we get the stronger we’ll be.  Let’s work hard on keeping the magic alive.

With all my love,

Headset

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Bird

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I’m not thinking about the America eagle, or this year’s Thanksgiving turkey or even the late Detroit pitcher Mark Fydrich known as “The Bird” (loved that guy when I was a kid..RIP).

I’m thinking you know, The Bird.

This is a family blog though so I won’t just come out and say it.    Instead I’ll call The Bird a safe acronym like “TB” for the remainder of this post.   And since the acronym “TB” is more commonly known as Tuberculosis (which is a heck of a lot worse than this other TB I’m talking about) by comparison, mine is pretty tame.

What I will say and list for you, are the times during a typical day or a week that I feel I am getting TB (not Tuberculosis type) from businesses.  Not an “in your face” blatant nasty service experience that everyone writes and complains about, but a sudden unpleasant little message you flip in my general direction.  

And that is not good.  Maybe these little affronts are a sign of worse things to come from this experience, this business relationship.  Maybe these little affronts stop the relationship process really before it even starts.

My guess is that businesses may not have a clue they are doing this and if that’s the case, please get a clue.  And if it is being done on purpose, quit it.

The Bell.   If you’re a small business or even a large one and aren’t drooling at the prospect of a prospect walking in your door but instead place a little silver bell for me to ring to get your attention, then you are giving me TB.  Guess I’m not that important.  I suggest a mirror, a dog or some sort of bell on the door I open that gets your attention before I need to.

Flat Screen & Standard Definition TV:   Have a nice bar?  Have a nice place casual dining establishment?  Great, I love it.   But every time you hang that 47” screen over your bar but only show standard definition programming it’s like giving me TB.  If you can’t cough up the costs or work out the deal to broadcast HD don’t insult me with the blurry picture on your beautiful television screen while I sit paying 500% margins on your over priced local brew.  What’s next? Skimping on the soap for the dishwasher?

 “noreply @..”  Ever get one of these emails?  If your business sends out any emails with the sender labeled like this for any reason, you might as well give me TB.  Staff the darn mailbox or forward it to someone who cares because if the recipient is your customer and he or she cares to reply; you should care to listen.

Newspapers Outside The Lines:  This one drives me crazy.  You are giving me TB when you insist dear supermarket, that the newspapers be lined up against that wall at the far end of the store beyond the check out lines.  Now since I just decided upon viewing that I want a newspaper, I must decide to get back in line to pay for one. Nope.   Same goes for the firewood and charcoal and the winter shovels.   What is this losing sales tactic called anyway? “The After Purchase Purchase?”

The 24 Hour Sales Cycle (NOT); Ever get a LinkedIn invite one day and then an invitation to spend money the next?  Ever get a ReTweet on Twitter or a nice comment on your blog post one day and then a pitch from that person or business the next day?  I have.  I’ve gotten them from former colleagues, friends, people and businesses that I know or knew.  Ugh.    Faux Networking is TB in capital letters (I mean like really big capital letters).

TB is fowl.  And while you undoubtedly have your own examples of TB in the marketplace (and please feel free to share),  figuring out if you, your business, your team or your department is doing TB innocently to customers/prospects is important to think about too.   It may be hard to spot or put a finger on so to speak but it’s well worth the look. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Assume He’s Earned It

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That moment stayed with me all week while vacationing in Maine for a few days last week. 

He shuffled slowly, eyes riveted on the beach, his elbow tended by his middle aged daughter as he made his way to a table at the ocean front restaurant. 

He looked well into his 80’s or even into his 90’s, and I had a passing thought that maybe this beach was just one of many he’d seen in a lifetime as a civilian and perhaps as a Serviceman.

But it was what the younger gentleman dining alone said that struck me.  He broke from eating, stood and pulled out a chair for the elderly man and when the daughter mouthed “Thank you” the single diner said  “He’s earned it.”

“He sure has” the daughter beamed. 

The lone diner had no idea what this man had done to “earn it” and nor did I.  But the point is that there was an assumption that he had.

Giving help this lone diner so simply reminded me, was something not given out of pity or helplessness or ignorance or obligation but rather, out of assumed respect for the person. 

That’s a lesson we need to hear more of it seems to me.  There are some assumptions we need to change.

I grow worried that in business (and elsewhere in our lives) there’s a “prove to me” perspective too many of us take when meeting or working with people for the first time.  That we as sales people and managers and trainers sometimes approach prospects and existing customers, as well as new and veteran employees,  as people that need to earn the chance to be “worthy” of our time, our work, our humbleness and our help. That the help we give is a magnanimous gift on our part vs. help being given simply because it has already been earned.

It’s not that the old man in Maine may have served our country or done something great to “earn it”. Who the heck knows what he’s done but the presumption should be more often than not, that we are privileged to help people vs. the other way around.

  • Assume before calling on this prospect that she isn’t inexperienced just because her business is new but rather that she’s a 20 year business veteran now branching out on her own.   Assume that and you’ll do all the research required before you visit or call and be in a far better position to provide real help.
  •  Assume that this new hire class has collective sales experience like no other class before (as in this economy without a doubt they do).  Assume that and giving the “What Sales is Really All About” speech might change to real help in the form of a selling workshop fostering discussion about how to sell in a sketchy economy.
  •  Assume that the owner you are talking to also does most of the selling for his company.  Assume that and slamming in 4 product pitches or 3 trail closes isn’t the help you’ll give today. 

 

You can add your own new assumptions about each member of your staff or the customers in the territory you just inherited or the leader you now report to.  Just make sure the assumptions are that they’ve already “earned it” because chances are they have.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

For the Blind, the Deaf and the One in the Back

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Lia Oldham and her husband Ben teach theater skills to summer campers in Groton, Massachusetts.  

My son attends the 2 week camp and shared that Lia reminded them last week to always perform for the “the blind, the deaf and the one in the back”. 

Great advice.

Theater is a good training for much of the presentation work we do in sales, marketing and training.  Leaders too have been known to steal a few techniques from the stage to get their messages out well.

I did a fair amount of acting and directing back in the day and some of those stage lessons came roaring back having heard what Lia said about how to perform for your audience.  I’ve never been shy about sharing the value of having a theater background if you work in sales, marketing and training.  In fact, that experience is great to look for when your hire people in these spaces. 

Here are 4 stage techniques that specifically respect performing and presenting for the “blind”, the “deaf” and the “one in the back”.

For The Blind.  On the stage, performing for the “blind” recognizes the true value of what is being heard.  One stage technique is so important it’s often repeated three times;

  • Tempo, Tempo, Tempo.  Great acting (and great playwriting) result with stage performance sounding much like a song though this play is not a musical.  Stage directors obsess with tempo both to keep the play moving but mostly ensuring that the monologues and the dialogues that already have a cadence, a beat and a rhythm built in are executed well to add depth and energy to the story.  In business think Zig Zigler:  His Content is not the only instrument of his work; his voice is and that man can “sing”.  Have a listen here.   When you present or train, use these conscious thoughts of tempo to help you.
    • Tempo Up:  The training or the presentation should peak (often more than once).  Use speed and tone build ups.  Excitement sells.
    • Choruses; find the salient point and begin with it.  Repeat it throughout the presentation much like the chorus of a song.
    • Sentence structure:  Maybe 6 lines of a play or a presentation should for example, start with “You wouldn’t believe…” or “There will come a day..”.  It gives that cadence and rhythm to you work that helps the message stick.

   

For The Deaf.  On the stage, it’s about being Visually Deep.

  • Visually Deep:  Makeup on stage accentuates facial features to allow expressions to be seen more easily.  Expressions on a face as we know are deep windows to the soul.   Props too for an Actor can do the same thing adding depth to a character as props can tell a story without having to be explained; (think a cane, a worn briefcase – you get the idea).  In business it may make a lot more sense to use props than a lot of stage makeup (your call on that). Sales Guru Jeff Gitomer is a great prop user.  Consider for example instead of talking about or showing an image of a funnel in power point to explain a sales pipeline ( like we’ve all seen)  use a real plastic or metal funnel and fill it with ping pong balls.  Visual Depth helps those who are more influenced by what they see versus what they hear.

 

For The One in the Back.  On the stage it’s about Playing to the Balconies and Being Authentic.

The “one in the back” in Theater as well as in business can be the disinterested, the forced to attend or the non-believer.  Performing for those folks is tougher but no less valuable (especially when you can convert them into believers).   Those “in the front” in Theater and in business meetings and presentations often are already engaged, willing and believe so an actor or a presenter needs to remember that too much focus to the front rows may be missing an opportunity to “sell” to the whole audience.

  • Play to the Balconies.  In theater, it is “chest up”, “eyes up” and “look up”.   That physical approach brings the “back” in.   In Business it is the same.  In business do your best to look out and beyond the front rows even calling on folks in the back by name to draw them in. 
  • Being Authentic.  As Lia Oldham shared with my son and his theater campers last week, when you work hard at performing for “the blind” and for “the deaf”,  those from the back rows still may not see you or hear you that well but by golly, they will believe you.

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business

Mark

10 Things I Haven’t Mentioned….

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Nice picture.  Screams charasmatic doesn’t it?

Yeah I have to work on that.   But I’ll start with a little more behind the picture today.

I write about what could or should be done in the worlds of sales, marketing and training.   I’m not shy either about having a stand on a few life lessons too.   I’m OK with that. 

So, today here are a few things you won’t read about me in my About pages and that might offer an element of

Well, I have no idea really.

All I do know is that when I read a couple of posts like this one here by blogger Lisa Sonara Beam, who got the idea from Corbett Barr, it helped me. 

Not sure how it helped but it did.   When I read their posts or their tweets now I guess I feel a little more something.  Maybe it was because a little more was laid out there on a limb with the content of the blog.  It was a little more transparent maybe. 

I think too that they feel a little more something when they write having shared stuff that may not have been that easy to share.  Seems like a win- win.

So I’m stealing shamelessly.

1.  My father was a police officer and my mother was a nurse.  He worked days and she worked nights and then she worked days and he worked nights… You get the idea.  Though 4 sons and a daughter, none of us chose either profession as a career.  I feel kind of bad about that.    

2.  Toby W. doesn’t know I love him.  8 years ago he was kind enough to stop me in the hallway and say he knew I was desperately looking for an apartment and that there was one available in the next town over.  7 days and 75 miles later, I moved in, then went to the local church one hot day that summer, saw the love of my new life cantering, married her 7 years later and am still the Luckiest Man in The World.   Toby visits the office every once in a while (he’s a field sales guy), but he has no idea why I stare at him so long, often saying nothing.  He knows now.  I love you man.

3.  I was always afraid of dogs.  Till I got one.  Now I am just a little afraid.

4.  I went to college as an Engineering Major.  Oh yeah, a 5 year program with the last 2 years supposed to be at Notre Dame.   But in my sophomore year at Stonehill College when I started digging into the trash bins in the computer lab looking for hints of how to just start my computer programming assignments,  I realized this ain’t for me and changed majors right quick.

5.  For nearly 5 years I drove 4 hours a day commuting to and from work.  75 miles each way in some of the worst traffic imaginable.  Longest round trip? 9 hours.  You do what you need to do for your family, you discover books on tape and learn first hand that you never travel in the far left lane; ever,  it’s always the slowest.  Stay in the middle lane my friend.  Always.

6.  Writing is the Great Clarifier.  Writing adds more depth to my thinking, strategizing and execution without a doubt.  It’s not something I do in addition to my job.  It is something I do to get the job done.  Hard to explain, but true.

7.  It’s the little things that drive me crazy.  I’ll use cuss words that would make Capt. Quint wince (he’s from the movie Jaws for you youngin’s) when that razor falls out of the cabinet again or I am stuck having to open up a cereal package (impossible).  If I lost an arm in a power saw accident however, I assure you that you wouldn’t hear a peep out of me.  Seen it before; big stuff happens and I’m cool as a cucumber, little stuff happens and the good Sisters at St. Catherine’s would ditch the ruler and grab a 2 by 4.

8.  A 30 pack of Bud Light saved my life.  Between his second and third murder over the span of 5 days, this guy  walked up to my car window while I tried to pull out into traffic in Meredith, NH in 2001.  He leaned into my car window and asked “can I get a lift to the print shop just down the road?”.  His hand heavily resting on the door frame and his head now nearly touching mine, I just glanced at the 30 pack of Bud Light on the passenger seat, shrugged and said “Hey man, no room”.   I  then hit the accelerator harder than I planned and drove off; something just wasn’t right about him.  2 of the 3 guys he killed I found out later, had given him a lift just like I almost did.    Maybe this is why I still love beer so much.

9.  I love my Mom’s music .  On my IPod, I’ve got everything from Jock Jams to Broadway musicals to Mozart’s Requiem to Police (Live!) to John Denver to a dozen full length Biz books.  So what.  Everybody has a wild mix of music.  My favorite Playlist is the one I made for my Mom 2 years ago.  She’s 77.   I burned 2 CD’s for her of her favorite stuff ranging from Church hymns to Paul Simon to Les Miserables and I know I listen to it more than she does.

10. I know nothing about cars, babies, electronics, weapons, meat that is anything but well done, astrology, soccer, tennis and fishing.  Conversely, I know way too much about backyard sports (including dozens of made up games), football, books of lists, scrabble and cemeteries.  So there you go; that about evens it up.

Till next time,

Grow the business.

Mark