Dallas and HTG - Here I Come!

What would cause me to get up at 3 am so I can catch a 5:30 flight? OK my family would be one reason but another would be to go to my quarterly butt kicking peer group meeting (HTG3). I know I have blogged a lot about my HTG brethren (Erin - we know you are a brother even though you are a a female). It will be (how is that for positive thinking) a great meeting to share ideas, strengthen relationships, and get my butt kicked to keep me focused. Do you have a person that can help you do that? I am lucky enough to not only have a couple that I can trust and respect in the company I work for (even own the company) but there are another 12 that I meet with quarterly from all over North America. Trust me I need as many as I can get (my wife can't do it all alone it is a big job). I know I will be running on pure caffeine later, but it will be worth it!

No Sleep

Between work on the mind and a back that is hurting there has not been a lot of sleep tonight. The work I can push out of my mind but the hurting back I can't. I know what I need to do, but have not been able to get my butt in gear to do it. We all know what it is - GET IN SHAPE. I like getting up in the morning and working out, but where I am right now I would have to get up at 5 am and just haven't been able to do it for a while. How do you motivate yourself? I need some help.

HTG Week

It is hard to believe but it is HTG time already. Don't get me wrong I love my HTG family and the time and ideas we share, it just seemed to have come VERY EARLY. I am busy working on my items to share (trying not to wait too late) but am having a hard time being too motivated. I am not one to wait till the last minute, but it has happened this time. I PROMISE BRAD IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!

National Security

So what do you think about President Obama's Blackberry? Should he have it or not? I know I would have a hard time giving up my smart phone, but shouldn't the most powerful person in the world have people to handle things? Also it is a little dangerous to have on him due to GPS tracking abilities and hacking opportunities. What do you think?

The Next Day

So the 44th President is now in office. No matter what you think of him he has a big job in front of him. Not sure why anyone would want the job. First of all they don't make much money. Second they get blamed for everything. Last they are watched 24 x 7. Not a job that I would enjoy. I didn't vote for President Obama but I pray for him and his staff and hope that they deliver on the items that got them elected.

Microsoft's Great Sales Tools

OK so it has been a while, but I am back at full power. One of the things I have been working on while away is a presentation with some of my HTG3 brothers and sisters on the Assessment Toolikit by Microsoft. It has helped me land some great opportunities with new clients as well as helping me strenthen my relationship with existing clients. For more information see below and take time to log in and listen. HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Microsoft has recently updated the Business and Technology Assessment Toolkit to version 4. Been quite a few years since we originally rolled out the initial version. On Friday July 23, four HTG members will be discussing how to use assessments to drive business. Hear Joddey Hicks, Aaron Booker, Brent Morris and Erin Arnold as they share their wisdom about BTAT. There is no better time than now to focus on going deeper with clients, and no better tool than the assessment process to dig deep, peel the onion and find opportunities to serve your clients. Here are the details:The Microsoft Business and Technology Assessment Toolkit V4 - How Partners are Using It to Generate Real Revenue and Profit. This webcast will review how MS Partners use the Microsoft Business and Technology toolkit to generate revenue and drive a long lasting client relationship that continues to provide opportunity for years to come. These veteran Microsoft partners will share their secret sauce on how they use the assessment process and the data collected to build long term IT plans and strategies for their clients and then use those to get their clients to open their wallets and continually make purchases of technology and services. We’ll also discuss the new and enhanced features of the new toolkit, including SBS/EBS updates and a new proposal generator.January 23 at 9:00 Pacific time.Register at http://www.mssmallbiz.com/training/. The session is down toward the bottom in teh Growing your Business section.

Economy

I had a great weekend. Between football and my family I was able to get a lot of each. The one thing I did hear a lot about was the economy. I know it is not great out there, but I find it hard to believe it is as bad as is reported. At the end of the day I think it does a lot it do with your attitude. Maybe I am a little native about this, but I am OK with that. So until further noticed go on with the bad economy without me, I guess I will not participate at this time. If you want to join me email me and we can start a club. One item will be not listening to the media nor the negative people, but that would be good fo us anyway. HAVE AN AWESOME DAY AND LET'S SELL SOMETHING!

Another Long Night

Well the kids had a long night again last night. I think my wif and I got about 4 hours of sleep. Not sure what is up, but it makes it a little difficult to get going in the morning. I love my kids but sometimes they do make life trying. How can they be in such good moods with so little sleep with NO COFFEE?

Managed Services

Today I am going to meet with a couple great managed services clients that we have worked with for years. I try to touch base with them at least monthly to see how things are going. With managed services, if done correctly, they should never see us, nor should they ever need to. This is difficult because then the client may think they have no problems, so they don't need us anymore. My job is to educate the client on what we do and why he doesn't see us. The easiest way to do this is, as I was taught at K-Mart, document, document, document. Once this is done it is my job to show what other ways we can help them be able to focus more on their business and less on their technology. I love my job and helping do that!

Accountability

So how is 2009 going so far? The last family Christmas is over at our house and now it is time to get down to business. It is January 5th and how do you feel so far? Well the good thing is, if you don't feel that it is going well yet, you have a lot of time yet to right the ship. You also need to remember that to slip off the course is normal and nothing to beat yourself up over. The best thing you can do, if you are having problems or not, is to find someone who can keep you accountable, someone to kick your butt if necessary. It isn't fun, but it helps you grow and become the person you want to be. Try it and see 2009 be the best year yet!