Super Mop?

So I was watching Tru TV and there was the "Smart Mop" Commercial showing a spilled glass of pop. They absorb it with the smart mop. This is where things go a bit problematic.

"With these hard times" you can absorb the mess and drink it? EWWWWWW

Really, didnt realize that the 25 cents worth of pop could not be wasted.

It's raining its pouring, oh wait, it is indoor plumbing!

Recently I have seen 3 separate households with significant water damage from indoor plumbing. From pipes just failing, backed up sewer and dishwashers failing overnight. The damages could have been minimized with early detection. You say, how? I know that my alarm system will protect us. Sure from bad guys but also

Fire
Carbon Dioxide
Water detection
Extreme temperature

More technology at work in the Riat household!

Back to the store

I am getting better. Entered the grocery store door at 7:25, left at 7:54. With travel, so door to door less than an hour. Much better time then Jen.

To be honest, I missed the cream of mushroom soup and where I placed the coupons the checkout girl missed. So I made a rookie mistake. If I would have figured out the app this would have never happened. Next time. And hey, I figured it was a success because I was allowed to go back!

The Meeting

First of all, I am not speaking about any meeting in particular. It has been a while since I have vented about the bad meeting.

Anyway, it is like me venting on bad driving (You know the people who do not turn right on red and so on) There are some basic things that every meeting should have! Here is my short list;

A leader (Facilitator, director, coordinator so on)
An agenda with a specific goal to achieve at the end
Less than 10 people that are contributing. (OK you can play this a bit loose, but what matters is smaller with the decision makers in the room is the best)
Do not go backwards. Once a decision is made, move on. If people are trying to go back, do not let them.
Set a time limit
Do not have meetings just to “Have Meetings”
If needed consult with members attending to see what their agenda is for the meeting (if you are the facilitator)
Sometimes closed questions are good.
If you are not going to listen to the participants, just cancel the meeting and email them what you are doing. Stop wasting our time.
Start on time and end on time.
If you have details that need resolved with individuals in the meeting wait till the end. Don’t waste everyone’s time.
Time is money, Take the number of people in the meeting times at least $30 an hour. Know what your meeting time is worth.

Bringing the focus

One of the topics I feel like I have been discussing in sales quite a bit lately is bringing the focus. An example of that may be a customer that requests 3 to 6 "Proposals". Sure, I have done the work to do this, but usually it is a huge waste of time.

It is our job in sales to provide the right solution. That may have some options at the end, yet those options may simply be color or looks. You have some key ingredients to every sale that you must have to make it work. You know you cannot skip these pieces. Start there.

If customers start wanting all these options, then you probably have not done your job. That is to simplify the buying, not make it more complex. Many times if you walk into a retail store and there are so many choices that you are overwhelmed, you will simply want to go "Study" and be back. As we have discussed in this blog before, the "Be back bus" is not coming back.

Find the budget, time frame and decision maker. Work with the customer to find the correct solution and bring focus.

We had a great time

"Laughed so hard my cheeks hurt today" Jenifer

We hosted a great get together last night. Fun for all.

The BHAG made a good stride. Thanks T.W.