So wouldn’t you think that salespeople MIGHT want to call ahead to make sure I’m in before they drive on over???  Have they not seen what they’re paying for gas these days?

But, alas, because our door is unlocked I am a sitting duck.  

So they enter (yes, there are always 2 from the major offender) and politely introduce themselves.  I EQUALLY politely explain that I’d be more than happy to listen to them if we could schedule an appointment.  Undaunted they explain that they won’t take more than 5 minutes.  Assuming that they have yet to grasp the subtlety of my message, I spell it out for them.  In detail.

I am really busy right now.  This is a bad time.  If we can set up an appointment, I’ll be glad to listen to your special offer.

From there it spirals downward.  They repeat how little time they need to save me some small fortune, I repeat that this is not a good time.  They say they were in the neighborhood (for what… bird watching???) and I say I’d appreciate a call first.  I even give them the courtesy of explaining that their company has done this several times a year for the 7 years I have been in that location.  My message has been the same every single time.  Then they give it one more try and I say no thank you and turn back to my computer being forced, once again, to be rude and just flat out ignore them.

I always DO make an appointment with my prospects.  My assumption is that they are busy, they have schedules, they have more to do than can fit into any given day and frankly, when I do meet with them I hope I have their attention…not their resentment!  Bottom line:  I respect people’s time and I need your help.

Who do you know who could benefit from our services?   Maybe right now they order from a routine on-line company and the customizing we provide would appeal to them.  Maybe they need to use their time for something other than handling gifts and would like how fast and easy it is to order from us.  Maybe they know how important it is to say thank you but don’t know where to go.

If they agree to see me for 10 minutes (and I mean a real, by the clock 10 minutes), I’ll bring them a FREE $50 basket for them to keep, sample and show to everyone else in their office.  The only time I stay longer is if they ask me to.  I promise.

Getting enough coaches was generally easy.  We even had very little trouble getting volunteers for the concession stand.  But we had an umpire shortage.  It was hard to get volunteers to put on gear and stand there for 2 hours calling balls and strikes for a struggling bullpen of 12 year olds.  These gals could find their current heart throb in a crowded mall within 11 seconds but couldn’t find the strike zone to save their lives. 

And that explains how I came to be behind the plate.  I surely wasn’t the first choice.  I was just willing.

But I loved being at the field and I wanted to look the part.  Which brings us to one of my best, favorite and most special Mother’s Days.  It was the year my son gave me my very own umpire clicker and plate brush.  I guess he could have given me flowers, candy or jewelry….maybe a handmade picture frame or ceramic dish.  But the umpire’s tools of the trade were perfect.

And that’s the thing.  Knowing what to give to whom is the difference between being a hero or striking out.  We work with hundreds of gift givers every year to make sure their gift is a hit.  Guess all those years at the fields paid off!  Give us a call and we’ll help you smack one out of the park too.

And I STILL have the clicker and brush.

• $20,000+ in donated items before we even open the doors
• 374 advance tickets sold
• 57 corporate sponsors
• 18 non-profits about to get their “Wish List” items
• a yummy array of food to be eaten tonight  (can’t forget the treats!)

This started as a vision….became a reality….and truly will make a difference.

So thanks to everyone who has had a hand in helping those right in our own backyards.  Feel empowered and feel proud!

More than that, let’s think about what happens at 8:30PM.  The event finishes,  everyone leaves having made new networking connections, we load all of the “stuff” into vans and trucks for the charities and we go our separate ways.

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO END.  Yes, I mean the networking.  Of course there will be coffees to schedule, introductions to make, contacts to follow up on.  BUT…….now that everyone has met the groups that participated, now that everyone has seen that even $1 can make a difference, why NOT keep that going as well?

Take a business card tonight from the charity that most strongly tugs on your heartstrings.  Call them to volunteer a few hours to help out.  Keep collecting what they need and arrange to make periodic deliveries.  Raise awareness.

A mitzvah is a good deed.  I like to think they happen most often when no one makes a big deal about them.  Mostly they start in the soul, but they’re great for the heart.  Thanks again for contributing!

Now, I’m not talking about whether the guys are setting themselves up for major health issues down the road.  And I’m not talking about the moral issue of right vs. wrong.  What irks me is that they’re not playing on a level field any more and it’s not being done honestly. 

I’m all for cheering the guys who spend the off-season working with personal trainers, logging extra hours in the gym to stay fit before reporting to training camp or cranking up the at-home workouts.  If they end up with an advantage, it’s surely been achieved honestly.

Like in business.  I admire companies that get ahead by fair marketing.  If they get bigger and better by being creative, yahoo for them!  If they rip off consumers, deal dishonestly and cut corners…. it’s that unlevel playing field again.  I want to go up against my competitors fairly, don’t you??

Check out your vendors.  Are they shopping locally to support your neighbors?  Do they offer fair pricing and value for their products & services?  Are you getting what you asked for and paid for?  Are they civic minded and participating in charity events or causes that matter?

You may not be sharing a locker room with them, but don’t you want to be sure your money is going to the good guys and not the cheaters?

But the point remains that your prospective clients need to know how to find you.  What are you doing to make that easy for them?  Because if it’s not easy, you know what they’ll do, right?  Yup……..they’ll call your competition.

We can fix that.  Whether you want a postcard program or a chunky mailing to ensure that the envelope gets opened, we’ll do it.  We’ll design a marketing campaign within your budget to “touch” your prospects.  Want monthly?  Quarterly?  Certain holidays?  No problem.  Our strength is in working with your marketing department…or BEING your marketing department:  entirely your choice!  The  point is that we’ll connect you to your prospects.  No magic wand, simply ideas that work.

Just give us a call and we’ll do the work while you sit back and answer the phone.  Forget Verizon’s magician;  we’ll BE your marketing magician!

Nope.  It was more along the lines of something a smidge less polite than “get the hell off the road!”

From where I sat, it seemed to me that staying on the correct  side of the road, wearing a dorky helmet, following the rules of the road and being alert is my business.  Watching for other cars (OR other cyclists), having a valid driver’s license/insurance/registration and following the rules of the road was HIS business.  Yelling at me and jumping into MY business???  Not so much.

Made me think of how people deal with competition.  CLEARLY I was no threat to him.  He was going 45 MPH and I’m lucky to hit 16 MPH headed downhill!!!!  Yet he didn’t think that street was big enough for both of us. 

Some of your competition might think “the street” isn’t big enough for both of you either.   Now, there’s two ways to handle this:  you feel threatened and focus energy on being defensive OR you feel energized and see it as a challenge.

If you’re a new reader….welcome to my blog.  This is where I share thoughts about getting and staying energized….reflections on ways to confront challenges….ways to ride your business bike when all roads appear to be headed uphill and stay the course.  We’ll talk about the bumps, the flat tires and ways to avoid coasting.

So some might say the guy in the truck (AKA your competition) is right, that you shouldn’t  be on “his” road.  Me?  I say you follow the rules of the road and just take care of your own business….let the other guy kick and scream all he wants.  The road is plenty big enough for both of you.  Just keep pedaling.   You’ll grow your company AND sleep better.

The Commissioner has made significant adjustments in what is allowed and not allowed nowadays specifically about head trauma.  Some say that it’s just not the way football was meant to be played.  Others say it’s for the best. But the bottom line is what Mike & Mike stated simply and accurately:

                                                                   “You cannot protect people who don’t want to be protected.” 

If, in spite of the Commissioner, team physicians, specialists and moms (OK, so maybe moms don’t get consulted, but they should be!) guys play after taking a serious shot to the head, there isn’t really a way to keep them safe from themselves.  They act as if they can’t be touched by serious, potentially permanent injury.  It can’t happen to them. 

But bad things happen.  In sports and in business.  And going through the motions with blinders on doesn’t help even a little bit.

Smart business people have their own specialists looking out for them:  business coaches, accountants, legal consultants and networking partners.  None of them are doctors, but all help keep companies healthy.  Protected.  So the question is:  DO YOU LISTEN TO YOUR PROTECTORS?   Do you take their advice to heart?  Do you rush in without seeking their input or worse even….disregarding it?  Are you less stubborn than the linemen you may watch on Sundays?

Because bad things happen.  Take a look around and see if you have the people “on your bench” that you need.  And if they’re not there, find them.  Why risk everything you’ve worked so hard on needlessly?  Business, like football, is best managed when played as a team.  Draft the players you need most to plug up knowledge gaps and you’ll guarantee yourself a winning team.

That was when I learned how differently men and women think.  (OK, maybe I already knew that and this confirmed it.)  My husband recited the teams by divisions. They play within divisions more or less geographically so that’s how he had them broken down mentally.  Me?  I had to go alphabetically.  It just made sense to me that way.  I think my husband actually laughed.  “Seriously?” he asked.  Yup: Bears, Bengals, Bills, Broncos, Browns, Buccaneers….

There IS a difference in how the genders communicate.  It matters when you’re at networking events or in sales meetings.  Pay attention to how you talk and how the person on the other side of the table listens.  Whether you’re trying to engage a new relationship or develop an existing one, it matters.

Are you talking too much, giving too much detail, not waiting for a response to guide you? Ladies, are you giving flowery descriptions  when the gentlemen want the ” facts and just the facts”?  Men, are you NOT giving the detail being requested or not engaging the other person enough? 

It matters.  What doesn’t matter is that I can tell you all of the teams but still not by division.  Cardinals… Chargers… Chiefs… Colts… Cowboys…

I’ve known that for years.

She has some spunk, my sister does, so I got her this T-shirt with her favorite saying on it .  She channelled her spunk into anger… and fought.

But it just came back.  Again I have no doubt she’ll fight it and win.  But again, I feel helpless and want to “DO” something.  So we designed gift baskets to help women in the cancer family.  During Ellen’s birthday month of April, for each of the gifts ordered below, we’ll donate all of the profits to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

1.  Raffle baskets for cancer fundraisers:  when asked to create a basket that MEN would want to bid on at fundraising events the Keg ‘n Snacker was born.  It’s a huge basket with a mini keg of beer smack in the center surrounded by all kinds of “guy snacks” of nuts, pretzels, popcorn, etc.  During football season we add Eagles (or other team) items as well.

2.  Recovery baskets: Post-treatment many women need to rebuild their strength.  So we brought in Banglz, decorative wristlets that LOOK like funky bangle bracelets when in reality they are 2.5 oz. weights worn to regain arm strength.  Perfect for work because of the colorful fabrics, as women just go about their normal daily activities their arms get stronger.  We add these to baskets of healthy snacks…gluten-free crackers, fiber bars, nuts, etc.

3.  Spa baskets:  It’s difficult to know what to send to someone recovering from chemo.  What seems to be most appreciated are gifts with puzzle books (sometimes escapism is the best thing!) and spa items (primarily unscented) like loofah pads, bath poufs, bath pillows, body massagers, pumice brushes, etc.  We can add a movie or relaxation DVD as well.

4.  Healthy baskets:  Feedback says that food is always a winner though so we offer items that would support a healthy lifestyle.  We carry gluten-free crackers, pretzels, sweet potato chips, felafel chips, multigrain chips, tortilla chips, nut bars, nut crunch bags and trail mixes.  In the healthy but not necessarily gluten-free category, we have dark chocolate, dark chocolate covered fruits and nuts, green tea hard candies and more.  We specifically add hard ginger candies for anti-nausea and to counteract indigestion.  If requested, we can include work-out DVDs and fitness journals.

Seattle Chocolates introduced a line of dark chocolate bars called “Chick” bars.  The pink one is the Survivor bar.  Just ask and we’ll add one to your gift.  It’s healthy, yummy and in honor of cancer survivors.

My sister celebrates her birthday in the 19th and we’d love it if  you’ll sing a chorus of HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her.  Her wish?  That you’ll send up a prayer for her health.

And if we can possibly share a special birthday in the life of someone near and dear to you, please let us know!!!!  We’ll add a Chick Survivor bar for free as our thank you.

Our very first pup, Racine, was an energetic black lab.   And by energetic I mean she was in near constant motion.

Our job was to socialize her by taking her to many different types of places:  the library, softball practice, work with me, etc.  The challenge was that when we took her for a walk, she pulled SO hard on the leash that we feared for dislocated shoulders!  Consequently, when my daughter and I would go out for the day we’d have to trade off to give each other a rest.

So picture this:  we’re walking along at the mall and Racine is wearing her Seeing Eye Puppy Program bandana.  Imagine that I am holding the leash.  People seemed to jump to the conclusion, looking at her quickly, that I was blind.  But after a little while my shoulder would hurt and I’d hand the leash to Stacy.  Well, the looks we got!!!!  We could almost hear them thinking:  “Wait!  If the mom is blind, how can she give the dog to her daughter?  And if the daughter has the dog now, does that mean they’re BOTH blind?  And if they’re both blind, then how is the mom walking without the dog??!!??”

It was all about expectations.  They EXPECTED one thing and got another.  This was humorous for us as puppy raisers…not so much as consumers. 

When you’re out shopping, dealing with vendors or negotiating with clients you have expectations.   You know what you want…you know what you expect.  And that doesn’t include surprises.

That’s an important part of our company’s culture:  to fulfill and exceed expectations.  When you deal with us, there just plain ARE no surprises.  We always ship on time, gifts are always high quality and we’re always on budget.   Seeing Eye pup or not:  what you see is what you get.