Guatemala City: Day 2

Tuesday was full day, kicking off the morning with several sessions on selling security including, discovering new opportunities, learning to effectively use sound bites, and a review of the security briefing material I have been using at executive facing lunch and dinner meetings. Our sessions were held high in the mountains in a house my client has turned into their company conference center (Pictured on the left).

After a hearty lunch of steak and potatoes we continued working through the House & the Cloud model, discovering the secrets behind effective messaging and marketing approaches. In every country I visit, it is important to understand some of the cultural barriers in marketing and selling – for instance, in Guatemala, there really is no middle class. The barriers between the lower and upper classes make interfacing with higher level executives more difficult than some countries such as the US.

This same barrier may exist in any country when dealing with very large corporations where high-level executives refuse to see the sales person as an adviser regardless of their advisory capabilities. One way to deal with this is to find other people in the organization that are also “Asset Owners” – people with liability, but perhaps not the highest level executives. My book, The House & the Cloud describes an asset owner as someone with real or perceived liability – not necessarily the CIO or CEO. In any case, it would be rare for the IT Director to be counted in this group.

PS. I should have planned more time to sight see and take pictures. This is a beautiful country!