2009 February « Dave Stelzl's Blog

Archive for February, 2009

Feb

Notes from Today’s Security Sales Workshop

Categories: The Bottom Line
Tags: sales training, security, Technology

We just completed a one day – Making Money with Security™ (Level I) workshop in Manhattan. A few notes from the class follow:

Two areas that drive business right now include compliance and the threat of losing data. Compliance is a slower sale but playing well with federal and state & local government, banking, and medical.
Companies that have built out their security practice and who are leading with assessment and other security services offerings are weathering the economic crisis. Security continues to be in hot demand.
Leading with managed services (which is always a risk sale) is not advised. Lead with The Four Things Buyers Buy^TM and sell through to managed services.
Read – I appreciate those who admit they are not reading enough. Sales professionals should constantly look for input on how to improve their selling skills. It’s more skill than a numbers game. The latter is just an excuse for poor performance.

Feb

One Way Contract

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Categories: The Bottom Line
Tags: contract, Customer Service, sales, time management

I recently read a telling article in Harvard review. The author rightly points out that while the airlines are working hard to build loyalty through the point system, you don’t actually get anything for your business; save an exit row. That is unless you’ve managed to reach the very top of the pyramid. Today was no different. I boarded US Airways on my way to New York City, brought my own water bottle, and chose the seat A of the exit row just so I could have control of the blinds. I fully expected a late departure, but to my surprise we left on time and seat B was vacant – this is nearly first class in my book.

While clearing the Hudson River I noted how small the landing spot was for flight 1549 -The River looks a lot smaller when you’re picturing an emergency landing. Truly a miraculous feat!

When all seemed safe, I breathed a sigh of relief and headed for baggage claim looking for my limo – who is supposed to be displaying the STELZL sign by baggage claim 2. That’s when the “One way Contract hit me.” He’s nowhere to be found. So, calling the hotline, the attendant informs me that my driver will be 15 minutes late. Meanwhile I am reading the back of my confirmation sheet for RC Limo Company in New York, which reads, “There is a 15 minute grace period (for the passenger) After that and hourly charge will be applied for waiting time.” Notice there is no mention of a late driver. Thirty minutes later my drive shows up making excuses about having just been notified. What kind of customer service is this? Customer service must always be central to the business – but in a recession it’s even more important. Take note: Do everything in your power to deliver quality. Start by being on time.

Feb

Jobless?

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Categories: Marketing
Tags: job search, position, resume

If you’ve been let go – this is for you. Every day I receive resumes from past work associates, workshop attendees, and seminar attendees. Companies are trimming back, cutting costs, and looking to reduce headcount in efforts to remain profitable. With Toyota, Lenovo, and others reporting losses, it’s no wonder executives are worried. So what do you do? The worst thing you can do is sit around and murmur about the economy. Stephen Covey’s first habit is…Be proactive. Here are some proactive steps:

1. Update your resume – if you don’t keep this up-to-date at all times, you’ve been living dangerously. A few points on this – The chunking limit is seven. Don’t list 20 bullets and expect anyone to read them. Focus on achievements not tasks. No one cares if you’ve managed 5 people, were responsible for some territory in South Dakota, or had responsibility for keeping up with your pipeline.
2. Make sure your resume makes sense. If you did some consulting, don’t bother listing yourself as the president of your company. The fact is you didn’t own a company, you owned a job. Call yourself a consultant, not a business owner.
3. Check your dates and know you story. Why did you leave certain firms? Everyone has a story for why they were fired at some point – make sure you know how to tell it, but don’t give lame excuses.
4. References! Everyone has three references of which they hold until asked for. Be different. The last time I interviewed, which was 1999, I had 36 references and handed them to interviewer before they asked. They never checked them simply because it was overwhelming.
5. The Interview – be proactive! Everyone comes to the table expecting to be asked a litany of questions; what a terrible situation. You can anticipate and perhaps prepare for some of them (although most people just wing it). Instead, come with a presentation. That’s right, you set the agenda. In 1999 I called every Solution Provider Executive I could find (gathering names from every Vendor partner I knew). I called, offering to come by to discuss some business opportunities and most agreed to the meeting. They weren’t even advertising a position. I came with a presentation on how to generate a profitable business and most liked it. Following the presentation they asked what I was selling – It was at that moment that I discovered the business I’m in now. At that time I was not ready to begin, so I agreed to develop a plan for a position that I’d take on if we could come to an agreement. It was so much fun; I almost didn’t want to take a job. But of course, I was doing this for free so I eventually had to sign an agreement.

Interviewing is marketing. You have to stand out, grab the attention of buyers, be innovative enough to create an opportunity where one may not exist, and leave the economy, murmuring, and bad feelings behind.

Feb

Notes from this week’s Federal Security Sales Workshop

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Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: Cybercrime, Federal Security, Identity Theft, Infrastructure, sales, Technology

We just finished our first SVLC Federal Security sales class, held in the Washington DC area. Federal efforts to secure out nation are escalating, and you should expect this to spill over into the commercial market space as all types of companies are under attack. After completing our Federally Focused Security sales class this week – some sound bites that are important follow:

Dept. of defense computers are probed hundreds of thousands of times each day according to DHS. Some of these attacks are very sophisticated, originating from well developed foreign government cybercrime armies.
U.S. Strategic command has banned the use of every form of portable media on its network – this includes things like USB key and CDs. Too many secrets are getting out.
America’s most pressing issue right now is securing Cyberspace according “The Commission on Cyber Security.” Take a look at our president’s cyber initiative list. An estimated $11 Billion is to be spent over the next four years.
“China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from US computer networks,” according to the commission’s chairman.
At least 120 counties have been developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon, according to McAfee.
“Jihadist hackers are trying to confuse military computers into mistaking identities of friendly and unfriendly forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.” WSJ Dec 15, 08
As more companies move to cloud computing, WSJ reports “foreign intelligence agencies and commercial snoops may have access”.

The point is, cyber attack methods are growing into much more than identity theft. Everything from infrastructure attacks we saw in Georgia, to intelligence gathering, and stealing of company secrets is taking place and growing. Strong justification exists to evaluate the security of every government and private sector facility as we move forward.