Sales Reps(Copier): Pie Is Not Sexxy. Stop with Goofy Marketing, Unless it Works.

We've gone from Gorilla Marketing to Goofy Marketing.

In the old days, we would send one baby shoe with a note, "Are companies make a great pair."  Get it?

Later, we would send a radio-controlled car with an offer to deliver the remote control, when given an appointment. 

I've seen it all, crumbled letters, newspaper articles writing about how your prospect did something famous(or infamous), singing telegrams, lunch in a box, and yes even fresh apple pie in exchange for a signature.

I can't believe I still hear about these techniques.

_________

This account is based on a True Story.  The names and locations are changed to protect the ignorant.
------

The sharp-dressed, well-seasoned sales manager sauntered in five minutes late. He's read somewhere, that a strong entry is important when motivating the troops and this month's sales figures are in need of some heavy stimulation.

"All right ladies, " he starts, ignoring the fact that only two of the 18 salespeople in the room are female, "as you know, this is the last week of the month.  You've all committed to numbers that none of you have delivered.  Not one."

Initiate spontaneous, mutual sphincter contractions.

#AppL & #IBM: Keep Em Separated?

8/2014

"...IBM and Apple sittin in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G...first comes love, then comes marriage, then little Siri-Watson in a baby carriage..."

The last #APPLE announcement was revealing in terms of technology because of the A7 chipset and the deal with Beats.  The upcoming #APPL announcement this September , has much in store, here are just a few:

1. New iPHONE 6
2. The A8
3. New wearable(s)
4. Yosemite 
5. IBM

iPhone 6
By now, we know the new iphone is always awesome. This time, the new phone will set extend Apple's lead in the market, all others will begin to look old-fashioned.  The timing is right for upgrades but some who bought the 5 last year will be slamming phones on Ebay looking to replace with a 6.

Why?  The new processor.

Y O S E M I T E

The buzz and anticipation around the op-sys roll out would be enough of an accomplishment for any major, technology company.  Imagine how happy #MSFT and all those Windows users would be if their OS were 50% of what Apple brings.  Yosemite is going to set the bar so high, others will get nosebleeds contemplating the dire situation.

Why?

Yosemite will blow the doors off of every other operating system - EVER.

I've seen things - the square mouse that was DOS 4.0, the smooth, out of this world, not ready for prime-time, pre-emptive multitasking OS/2 from IBM and the shear marketing and social goliath called Windows 3.0(1).

When I look at all the Mac OS/X, the actual operational tasks melt into the background - which is exactly what you and I want.  Thoughtless operation.  Support me, no matter how many applications I open.  Don't make me learn about .TMP files and wait 20 minutes for my machine to start up.

Why in  the world do any of us know what the phrase, "blue screen of death" pertains too?  Why should I know this?

I want to be able to share my current app on my MacBookPro, iPad and iPhone automatically -handing off to each device as needed. Impossible? No. El Capitan? Yes.

I want to answer my phone on my MBPro - madness? Half Dome? Yes.

You know what else, I'd like the same op-sys on all my devices...jus saying.  Craziness? Well, yes and coming.

The transparency between apps and platforms, dare I say the "non-fragmented", congruent approach of Yosemite is one of the biggest shifts in technology, ever.  As with most Apple products, the device or operating system does not try to dictate our personal workflow - it pairs up and works with me.

Why do I need to tell Windows I don't want to upgrade in the middle of every Powerpoint presentation?

WeAReAbLeS

Healthkit, iWatch, whatever...love them or hate them, #Apple is about to crack the seal on the atrocious healthcare system.

How about I get to keep all my health records, secured in my iPhone?  And how about instead of going in for tests, or scans, my watch is monitoring all that 7x24, data ready to be shared when I want with whomever I want?

Yeah, that's coming.

GUESS Who's Coming to Dinner? IBM.

The very first rivalry in the personal technology realm was between IBM and Apple - it was more  of a feud, really.  If you wanted to add up numbers and create DBII applications(what?!!), you owned a PC.  A 'clone' if you couldn't afford an IBM Model 70.  On the other hand, if you considered yourself 'artsy' or academic, a MAC was your status symbol.

Back then, it seem the two would never meet.

It's different now.

The last two powerhouses standing are getting together; soon the accounting firms,  engineering companies and manufactures will all be sporting "iSomethings".  CRM's,  materials planners and project managers will be flicking charts all over the place, from iPAD to AppleTV, to the iMACs in accounting.

This is transactional communications transforming into BI - is a another vista, waiting out there for everyone.  But that is for another set of blogs.

Wow.

"The Things We Think And Do Not Say. The Future of Our Business..."

"I began writing what's known as a Mission Statement...Fewer Clients, Less Money..."

During the 2011 MPS Conference, at the end of the MPS Expert Panel session titled, The Best MPS Program, I gave a little bit of what I like to call, the Jerry Maguire Experience.

Some of these panels end up being all 'doom and gloom'. You know, people get to say "I did it this way, so you should too" and "change or die", "the sky is falling".

Ken was wrapping up, the urge was there, I couldn't help it.

I wanted - no,  I felt, words were needed. Good words, positive energy let out for the world.

I have no idea if anybody heard what I said or if anyone remembers - and that's okay.  It was about the moment, a chance criss-cross of time and place.

An opportunity like that doesn't come along very often. I seized it.

"So much to say, and no one to listen..."

The words stumbled out and into the air, drifting.

I said,  "Now is the time.  This is the place.  An opportunity to remember.  To remember why you got in this crazy industry in the first place. Those times, the way it felt to get that first sale, install those devices...

To remember what it was like to NOT know. To guess, to make it up as you went along.

To remember when your existence wasn't dictated by the beliefs and dogma of the few.

Do you remember? Do you remember that blind jump, that a Leap of Faith?

To be young, to be amazed, to just...be.

It's here.  It's here for us now.  This very second.  How happy are you with your place in the world? The World is moving."

As much as I love having the mic, I know that the Global 2011 MPS Conference does not approach the scale and gravity of a major motion picture, arguably one of the best American films ever released.

Or does it?

"Breakdown. Breakthrough."

What are we here to discover?  What are the simple pleasures we look for and endeavor to find?

Direction? Validation?  Yes.

It's okay to sell copiers.  It's okay to sell MPS.  It's okay to sell.   It's okay to try and fail.  To tumble.  Get up, do it again.

MPS isn't the end-all, it isn't the only reason to exist - it never has been.  Still, with everybody getting in and as many as 50% failing, what now?

With all the OEMs defining MPS as S1/S2 and reclassifying direct accounts how can we continue?

Touch More.

More Human Touch.  Less PowerPoint.  No more WebEx meetings, toss the 50 slide business summaries.  Instead, press the flesh.  Draw on a napkin.

Do that thing we do as sales professionals, look him in the eye and say "thank you, what more can we do, today?"

"Oddest, most unexpected thing..."

Success and change are hardly the results of design.  Innovation encroaches from another direction; from the left as we look right, from behind as we look ahead. Few ever see it coming.

So it is today.  As some deny the paperless revolution is near, companies like Alaska Air outfit their 1,400 pilots with iPads.  Apple is making the textbook obsolete and banks now accept pictures of checks for deposits.  Your kids, don't call each other anymore, they use their thumbs.

From social media to MpS, everything is new and scarcely predicted - there are no experts - the world is moving faster.  No benchmarks, no 'metrics', no comparison, no rules.

Waiting for the revolution?  It's already here.

"The Me I always wanted to be" - Trust

Trust. It is a very big word and one of the first MPS Conference keynote speaker attempted to rally behind stating, "...Trust is something this industry has got to reclaim."

He is new.  He doesn't see that to reclaim something, one must have first possessed it.

Again, now is the time.  This Great Financial Crisis is secular, not cyclical - everything is changed and in flux. Now is the time to get out and see your clients re-establishing yourself as a trusted advisor, a Business Partner.

Be you.

"I had lost the ability to bullshit, ..."

Our journey continues.

The path is less bumpy when we build partnerships. Partnerships are easier to forge over a foundation of truth.  Can you be true?

Can you lose the ability to bullshit? If not to your prospects, at least with yourself.  Or are you just another shark in a suit?

Can you see the entire ecosystem?

How about instead of optimizing a smidgen of hardware and some toner, you envision Optimizing Everything.

That's right, everything.   Managed Optimization Services. 

"That's how you become great, man. Hang your balls out there."

GET MORE LIKE THIS, IN THE BOOK - HERE.

One of the absolute best reviews of Jerry Maguire.  Started, 4/30/2011

Originally, 5/16/11

Click to email me.