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Today NOT @ werk
Apr. 29th, 2009 10:01 pmWe ended the Sales Summit agenda for today earlier because our British rep insisted on catching the Arsenal vs. Manchester United game. Which meant that I left the office around 3pm. Caught the bus home, washed my face, walked downtown to the pub.
I didn't realize the CEO was wearing a Man U shirt all day until I got to the pub.
It was fun, watching the game with other people. During FIFA World Cup 2008, I was glued to my TV because I knew I'd have someone to talk to about the game in the Epic class I was taking that summer. I heard my neighbours shout and I knew there'd been a victory. How weird it is that I spend so much of my time alone in my apartment and I can't even stand the idea of being around people for too long, and yet I still crave these moments of socializing where I feel comfortable.
The Sales Summit has been really eye-opening in telling me just what kind of company I'm working for, and it makes me all the more glad to have the job I have. Too often, I sees sales jobs as pushing products on people, making them buy, moving money from the consumer to the seller, and product from the seller to the consumer.
Of course, making a sale IS important, because that's what allows the company to keep giving us the money we need to make a living. But usually selling is, "here's the product. It's awesome. Take it or leave it. But seriously, here's why it's awesome, so take it, take it, take it."
Our product, however, is one of many in an industry which deals with human lives. It's also a technological product. As such, our product always has the potential to improve, and it's necessary that we try to cater to the customer's needs the best we can, because to help them is to help other people.
My CEO explained it to us: "If there is a customization work we can do for a customer, we'll have a look at it, and if we feel that it benefits the entire customer base, we'll make it part of the product. We won't change the product for just one customer, although we can do minor custom work for them, but if there's something they want that we think can benefit all, we'll make sure it goes out to benefit everyone else."
Which only makes a bloody lot of sense. There're things we can do to make our own lives better, and then there're things we can do to make our own lives better and other people's lives better, too. Especially with stuff that's so deeply connected to other people. Our product can't afford to be alienated from the customer base, because our product has a direct effect on the customer base's goal: helping save other people's lives.
What I got out of it, then, is that creating and improving a product should be for the benefit of the commonwealth of customers that are or will be buying from us.
And that's certainly a philosophy I could use during life in general.
I didn't realize the CEO was wearing a Man U shirt all day until I got to the pub.
It was fun, watching the game with other people. During FIFA World Cup 2008, I was glued to my TV because I knew I'd have someone to talk to about the game in the Epic class I was taking that summer. I heard my neighbours shout and I knew there'd been a victory. How weird it is that I spend so much of my time alone in my apartment and I can't even stand the idea of being around people for too long, and yet I still crave these moments of socializing where I feel comfortable.
The Sales Summit has been really eye-opening in telling me just what kind of company I'm working for, and it makes me all the more glad to have the job I have. Too often, I sees sales jobs as pushing products on people, making them buy, moving money from the consumer to the seller, and product from the seller to the consumer.
Of course, making a sale IS important, because that's what allows the company to keep giving us the money we need to make a living. But usually selling is, "here's the product. It's awesome. Take it or leave it. But seriously, here's why it's awesome, so take it, take it, take it."
Our product, however, is one of many in an industry which deals with human lives. It's also a technological product. As such, our product always has the potential to improve, and it's necessary that we try to cater to the customer's needs the best we can, because to help them is to help other people.
My CEO explained it to us: "If there is a customization work we can do for a customer, we'll have a look at it, and if we feel that it benefits the entire customer base, we'll make it part of the product. We won't change the product for just one customer, although we can do minor custom work for them, but if there's something they want that we think can benefit all, we'll make sure it goes out to benefit everyone else."
Which only makes a bloody lot of sense. There're things we can do to make our own lives better, and then there're things we can do to make our own lives better and other people's lives better, too. Especially with stuff that's so deeply connected to other people. Our product can't afford to be alienated from the customer base, because our product has a direct effect on the customer base's goal: helping save other people's lives.
What I got out of it, then, is that creating and improving a product should be for the benefit of the commonwealth of customers that are or will be buying from us.
And that's certainly a philosophy I could use during life in general.