Need to have some fun!

I need to have some fun today! I have been feeling anxious lately between all the travels and some personal commitments that I have made. I feel the need to go out and get a bunch of exercise or have some fun. Either one of them will help me clear my head.

What do you do to clear your head and relieve stress? Most people seem to do the wrong thing, because they are not thinking clearly. This may be smoking, chewing (which is what I used to do), drinking, eating too much, etc. I used to chew and go out for drinks. Though I still enjoy a libation, I tend not to drink when I am stressed anymore. I found that exercise has helped me the most, though it is sometimes hard to get the 40 year old body moving. I also like to spend time with family and friends. Tonight, Rachel and I get to spend time with Stephanie and Darren. They are both family and friends and it should be a good time.

On another note, I am buying a new home PC today. Out with the Dell, in with the Lenovo! I increasingly find Dell to be difficult to work with and am enjoying my relationship with Lenovo. They are a very good company and seem to really focus on the Partner Channel. My main frustration with Dell has been the way that they handle us, as partners. No loyalty or working with their partners. Everything is a transaction. I don't get this feeling with Lenovo. I know that I am just a blip on the map, but I still purchase around $200-$300k of computer equipment each year and expect it to be handled better than just a transaction. I would like to start seeing my clients move to either Lenovo or HP. I am also working with IBM to purchase a test server for Syand. This would provide us with some exposure to their equipment and allow us to provide our customers with necessary feedback on all equipment.

Well, that's it for today. Have a good and safe weekend. Attached is a picture of me with one of my best friends, Frankie. He is my Cinnamon Lab, is 3 years old and goes pretty much everywhere with me. I sure do love that dog. I think every guy needs one. Wonderful animals.

"Yes, No or Maybe"

I have intended to post this for awhile and jut did not get around to it. I would like to talk about this self created law.

Many sales people simply waste time chasing their tails in the hope of potentially getting a deal. What a mistake this is!

So, in a nutshell. The best response that a potential customer can provide us is a "yes." The second best answer a potential customer can provide us is a "no." Why is that, you say?

Sales is a profession of prioritization. The quicker we are able to make customers provide an answer to our questions, the faster we are able to move onto the next thing. When I have a list of 30-40 things to do in any given day, the last thing I want to do is to call a customer to follow up on a potential deal with them. I am not saying that this is the case with all closes. There are many deals that require follow up as part of the process of closure. I am talking about the deals that all sales people have that are really not closeable. We have to be honest with ourselves to best determine what those deals are.

I had been working on a potential deal for close to a year on a phone system for a Business Association here in town. I kept trying to convince myself that it was worth the time to work the client in the hope that somehow this deal would happen. What a joke! I finally woke up and smelled the coffee. Even someone with almost 20 years of sales experience can do this.

Do yourself a favor. Learn to walk away. You will be a more successful sales person for it.

Technology as a Service - First Close

Well, I closed my first Technology as a Service deal with a client last week. We were able to sell the client on 20 laptops and 2 desktops, with a three rotation for replacement. The nice thing for Syand is that we will be able to garner Recurring Revenues for an extended period of time and have basically locked ourselves into a long term relationship with the client.

In fact, Syand has really made large in-roads at working with clients to attain long term, relationshp based, recurring revenue streams. This client, for example, is using us for the following items:
* Managed Services
* Anti-Spam services through MX Logic
* Back Up through Zenith Infotech
* Technology as a Service

Bric and I have focused almost exclusively on this in 2008. We are trying to get out of the Project and Equipment based IT Services. Part of this is because of the 2008 economy and part of it is because of my desire to create a longer lasting revenue streams for the business. We have done poorly this year in the Project and Equipment part of the business, though. We are down about 25% in Projects and almost 50% in equipment sales. I think this is because we have worked so much at the Recurring part of the business, which is up almost 125% over last year.

This deal also was my first heavy exposure with Lenovo. I have had difficulty with selling Lenovo because of two major reasons: we have trained our customers in buying Dell and also the lack of name recognition. We are trying to change this now. Lenovo is a superior product, in my opinion, and also offers more flexibility for Syand.

I wanted to thank Steve Riat for all the great advice and help with figuring out this deal. He has been an incredible asset to me and Syand.

Frank a Frank Inski

Much has been made of the Frankafrankinski joke with my last name and I need to explain where it comes from.

I donated money to the Jerry Lewis telathon when I was kid, probably around 12 years old. When asked how to spell my name, I said "F like Frank", a, "F like Frank", inski.

When I got the invoice in the mail, it said "Mike Frankafrankinski."

Now you know. Thanks Steve for bringing it up!

Do you know when you are the choice or just another bid?

I encountered a common situation for all sales people on Friday. A potential customer e-mails me frantic to see if I can meet some competitors bid and whether or not I could provide terms to them on the deal. In fact, he e-mailed the competitors bid, pricing and all on it. I had to laugh a little bit about this. When I pressured him to find out where his head was at on this, he said that he needed to have three bids for the Board, and that we were the third bid.

What does this mean for my business? This guy is a lousy client and never will be a good one. Any client/potential client that only focuses on pricing is not someone to work with. Having your eye on the pricing is always something to look at, but shouldn't be your only qualifier for work. So this is what I picked up from this entire situation:

FLAG #1 - This organization worked with a good competitor of mine to determine what the requirements were for their school. They then used the competitors hard work to send out to me. This organization completely discounted the value of the competitors work. BAD SIGN #1.

FLAG #2 - They need terms for the deal. This organization is a new school and needs help with the Financing side of it until their Federal Grant kicks in. Since I work with a lot of schools, I know that this is a fairly normal practice, but is a cause for concern. Again, are they using me for the terms and that is all?

FLAG #3 - They wanted three bids for the board and we are the last one. If we were the vendor of choice, we would have been the first bid. This has stink written all over it.

So, the salesman in me says that I should put in the time in writing the bid and hope that we can pick up the business. The Business Owner in me says that this smells like a dead, rotting skunk on the side of the road. Which side of me will win? Most likely, the business owner side.

I know that this organization is only using me for the bid, and is only looking at the pricing. So, I may end up getting the deal if I lower the price. However, they are not a partnered based organization. If I end up doing the work for them, which is a big "If", I would guess this is the only time that I will do work with them.

I kind of think it is funny that the potential client doesn't see this. My company is a partnered based company and looks for relationships for the long term, not on a transactional basis. This is obviously a transaction and nothing else. Last time I looked in the mirror, I was not selling Cell Phones but Business Services. Just my two cents on what not to look for in a client.

Why am I so lucky?

I talked to a Church friend last night, whose wife is pregnant. He told me that there were complications with their pregnancy and that she had to go in to see a doctor yesterday. Well, in going in to see the doctor they found out that there is something wrong with their son and that he will not live very long after birth.

How did I get so lucky? I have four kids, all healthy, happy, smart and have the world going for them. This couple has wanted to have a child for years, did everything under the sun to get pregnant and when they do get pregnant, have problems with the pregnancy. I pray that they find peace and make the time with their son as happy as they can.

I think that most Americans take things for granted in the world. We think that we will always have food, shelter, clothes, money and kick butt car to drive. I really believe that we are naive in this. Do we really have any idea what being poor is? Do we have any idea on how blessed we are to be here? I think not. I get so ticked at my kids when they leave things laying around the house that most other kids in the world would love to have. They nonchalantly act as if they deserve to have everything that they get, because they are kids. Boy, do they have another thing coming when they get older and realize that they have to work for everything.

I got back to work yesterday and was basically able to get through the mail and check e-mails that I had missed for the last couple of days. I have not done a great job at Customer outreach in the last month or so and it was good to work with my clients and start providing solutions to their needs. I met up with Joe, a friend and client of mine, last night for a couple of beers and talked about work. Joe owns a manufacturing company and is expanding south of the cities. It is good to see that things are working out well for him, his family and business. We talked a little about his need for technology expansion and I will be providing options for him to review in the next week or so. I really enjoy the consulting side of my business, helping people with finding solutions. I also had an opportunity to work with Aaron Booker, a friend from HTG, yesterday. One of the smartest people I know, he helped me figure out how to help a client with their Annual Budget meeting next year. Thanks Aaron for the assist! It's good to have smart people in your corner.

Who am I and why am I here?

Who was that General that ran with Ross Perot in 1992? I think that was one of the funniest lines that I ever heard in Politics. However, it is also one of the best lessons to learn in life.

I am constantly trying to re-think and re-invent myself. Not sure why I do this, but I think it is because of the question "Who am I and why am I here?" I am a big believer in working to improve yourself as much as you can. I believe this is true in family issues, spiritual faith, friendships and the workplace. Who you are is a reflection of what you are.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not trying to change my personality/beliefs to match those around me. Quite on the contrary. What I try to do is to sand off the rough edges to be better at serving and taking care of those around me.

On a different topic, I spent the last couple of days with my friend Matt on Lake Michigan deep sea fishing. Matt is an incredibly intelligent guy and probably one of the most honest people you would ever want to meet. I really enjoy our discussions on Politics, Family, Faith and workplace issues. I also really liked catching 150 pounds of salmon and trout without losing my lunch all over the deck. I did this last year and felt like I was dying for the first day out on the boat. There is nothing worse than feeling like you're going to puke and have nowhere to go.

I also got back from Vancouver with Rachel on Sunday. I had to go up there to meet with my HTG3 buddies to discuss business and life issues we have as Business Owners. What a great group of people. I was also able to spend time with my bride for five days alone. Amazing how much you are able to catch up with each other when the kids and the pressures of everyday life are not there.

Well, that's it. The first day of the Blog that I promised everyone that I would write. Not sure if this of any value other than to myself. I kind of like doing this, though. Sitting here just writing about anything is kind of soothing. I now have to get back to work. Boy, it is fun to get out of town for awhile, but really bites trying to get caught up on everything when you get back.