Joke of The Day 10-13-2011

A salesman and his wfie are both getting ready to go to work in the morning.

Salesman:     Honey, you always carry my photo in your handbag to the office everyday.  Why?

Wife:      When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem disappears.

Salesman:     You see, how miraculous and powerful I am for you?

Wife:    Yes, I see your picture and say to myself, "What other problem can there be greater than this one?"

Moral of the Story.   Professional salespeople know that if they can find a way to solve their prospects' problems their prospects will turn into customers and continue to do business with them for years to come.

Joke of The Day 10-11-2011

A young professional saleswoman went on-line to find herself the perfect date.  She was tired of wasting her time with her girlfriends at clubs, at weekend resort getaways or at boring charity events where all the "Mr. Rights" supposedly hung out.

So after registering her qualifications, adjusted optimally to secure her someone worthy of course, she began to list the qualities she wanted in her mate for life.  She wanted someone who enjoyed water sports, ate mostly fish no beef,  liked company, favored formal attire and was very small.

The on-line dating's site computer program operated flawlessly.

It sent her a penguin.

Moral of the story.   As any true sales professional knows, there is only so much one can do from your desk with a database and a web browser.   (Remember, it doesn't take much to have a great looking web-page.)  If you want to be successful in sales you need to get out in your territory and meet people face to face.  That's the only way to make a real long-lasting connection and properly ascertain what's really going on out there.

Joke of The Day 10-10-2011

A German, a Russian and an American salesman are traveling in the Amazon to open up a new territory for their respective firms.  They get captured by a jungle tribe native to the region.

The head of the tribe says to the German, "What do you want on your back for your whipping?"

The German responds.  "I will take oil!"

So the Amazons put oil on his back and a large Amazon whips him ten times.   When he is finished the German has these huge welts on his back, and he can barely move.  The Amazons haul the German away.

The head of the tribe says to the Russian, "What do you want on your back for your whipping?"

The Russian responds.  "I will take mud!"

So the Amazons put mud on his back and a large Amazon whips him ten times.   When he is finished the Russian has these huge welts on his back, but he had taken his ten lashing without a flinch.  The Amazons begin to haul the Russian  away.

The head of the tribe says to the American, "What do you want on your back for your whipping?"

The American responds.  "I will take the Russian!"

Moral of the story.   Always be prepared to think outside of the box.  Doing so will allow you to often beat your competition and might even save your own skin someday!

What To Do Before The Move?

So the move to Minneapolis is now 100% official. The mover is booked to come February 22nd to pick up everything here in Chicago, and deliver it to our new apartment in St. Anthony, MN on the February 25th. Though I am kind of sad to leave my sweet home Chicago, I am also excited at the chance to get a fresh start in a new city.

But, before I am looking for ideas on those must do things here in Chicago. So please comment with your ideas and I will create a list of them and post updates as Steph and I accomplish them.

I am looking for everything from the best places to eat, to tourist stuff that you always forget about when you live here. During February Steph and I will work on accomplishing as many as possible before we leave. So start commenting everyone and let Steph and I know what you think we should do before we leave!!!!

What companies keep their customer call centers overseas?

So I was posed the question, "What companies keep their customer call centers overseas?" on Quora yesterday. You will find my response to this question below. Today I was reading my response again and thought how interesting it would be to hear other business owners take on off-shoring/near-shoring vs. on-shoring. It is a debate that is talked about all the time, but instead take the stance as a businessperson who is faced with this hard decision. Here are the 2 questions I am looking for you to answer.

How do I quantify keeping my call center services onshore?

How do I quantify taking my call center services offshore or near-shore?

When I get everyone’s response I will follow up the post with a summary of what I received. I am so excited to see the responses.

My Response to The Question on Quora:

http://www.quora.com/What-companies-keep-their-customer-call-centers-overseas

The list of companies who are overseas or nearshore is pretty vast. Typically you will find that the companies who go offshore are consumer based organizations as they typically have the highest volume of calls to support. Also customer service and technical support is looked as a loss center, and most organizations look to limit loss as much as possible.

Now over the last 3 - 4 years this mentality has be gone to change with the birth of companies like Zappos who view their Customer Service call center as they're only means of advertisement and customer attraction. This unique view has made many companies begin to re-evaluate their current support solutions and in many cases come back to US based operations.

Personally I feel that offshore centers do serve a valid purpose for specific vertical markets segments that require HUGE volume support with little to no direct line communication. (i.e. - Web Chat & Email Support) But, when the support requires phone support or the chance for follow up communication from those emails or web chats, then onshore support is the way to go no matter the additional costs.

Really at the end of the day it all depends on the organizations business model and view of their customer service and technical support solution. If they take the traditional view of it as a cost center, then offshore it goes. But, if they take a new age view of their CS and Tech support being a means for customer attraction and repeat business, then there is a good chance it will be supported in the local country of it's consumers.

To Your Success & Prosperity,


Michael C. McMillan | Director of Sales
The Connection® Contact Center Services
11351 Rupp Drive, Burnsville, MN 55337
Main Line: (952) 948-5488
Direct: (952) 948-5476
Fax: (952) 948-5498
Email: mike.mcmillan@the-connection.com
Website: http://www.the-connection.com

What Is Your Standard Work Day?

Okay so I will admit it, I am one of those people who listen in on others conversations when I am out. I mean why not? If they are out in public I figure it is open season for my ears. LOL!

So today I overheard a girl telling her boyfriend how upset she was that her boss asked her to work a couple extra hours to finish a project. She continued on explaining what she was doing, and then I heard something that almost made me comment.

So before I quote let me set the scene for you. Starbucks 7am’ish in Chicago an early 20’s maybe late teen couple sit in the big leather chairs with the coffee and macs talking about the girls work woes. As she explains to her boyfriend about the sales presentation work she is doing she says, “can you believe that my boss made me work a 11 hour work day to finish that stupid presentation!” “I told him right there that this was crazy and that I would never do it again!” “I mean who would ever work that many hours in a day?” “8 hours is what I am scheduled for, and that is what I work no matter what!”

I have not been able to shake what that girl said all morning and just had to share it with others. In addition, I was curious to see how many others think as this girl does about 8 hours, is 8 hours?

For me my workday never really ends. I will jump up in the middle of the night if my cell were to ring, just incase it is a client or prospect that needs me. I mean I even had my cell (on vibrate) in my tux coat at my wedding ceremony and more than likely would not have hesitated to answer it. On average I would say I work a 10 – 12 hour workday, and many times even put in quite a few hours on the weekends. For me it is not because I believe my boss requires me to do this, it is because I want to be the best I can be at what I do. I just cannot for the life of me understand why a person in a sales support role would feel like this girl does!!

I am a firm believer in the old motto that the way you work defines you as a man/woman. Over the last few years I worry about the youth and even my generation forgetting this motto. This motto is why we have the Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Sr. Richard Branson’s in the world. If my generation and the ones following do not begin to understand this soon, I fear for the future of this great nation that we are about to lead.

They need to understand the government is not our parents! They are not responsible to see that you are clothed and sheltered. They are here simply to provide you the freedom and protection for you to do what you want to do to make an honest buck and spend it like you want. THAT’S IT!

We just all have to know and embrace that the world is not fair, nor should it be. If you want to make money, you need to work HARD for it. Like everyone’s grandfather said, “all that is guaranteed in life is death and taxes.”

So get out there, stop complaining, and get to work! That is all it will take to get our nation back on track.

On Your Mark... Get Set... Go!

Triathlete, a title that most people believe is to far out of reach. For me it was a title I as committed to earning, and most importantly keep. Today after about a 1.5 month hiatus from my training I met with my Tri-Coach, Craig Strong with Precision Multisport to go over what it was going to take to get me back on track for my June 4th meeting with the Kona, HI Half Ironman. It was a great meeting; one that I know will be a turning point of my triathlon journey.

Craig was honest and to the point that I have a ton of work ahead of me and that I need to get started NOW! Craig explained how my focus must be on swimming, running, and then biking. He let me know that he was confident in my biking abilities and that I would need to upkeep those abilities and yes work on increasing my overall speed, but that my swim and run needed the most work. He did reassure me that there is enough time still, but that I cannot break from schedule again.

We also began to review time goals for each individual component of the Half Ironman. He explained to me that having the goal of completing the distance is great, but that I also need to begin to pay attention to time. The reason for this, he explained, was that as I complete these distances I would need new goals to keep me going. Time is what my goals will ultimately turn to once the distance goals are accomplished. So to prepare me for that shift he said it is best to start teaching me to set time goals early. So today we set some very modest time goals for my first ever Half Ironman…

• 1.2 Mile Swim: 45 Minutes
• T1: 3 Minutes
• 56 Mile Bike: 3 Hours
• T2: 4 Minutes
• 13.1 Mile Run: 3 Hours
• 70.3 Finnish Time Goal: 06:52:00

Again these are very initial and just a place to start. Craig explained that as we get closer these numbers would be adjusted to fit what is realistic. The main goal is to make certain that I make the cut off times and finish strong.

Looking over the numbers I am excited by them. For the first time I really have solid numbers to help measure my progress toward my goal. Well now all that is left is some hard work and solid effort! Lets get to it!