Disqus - Latest Comments for GregWalters

Re: Is The Problem Sales Versus Support?

GregWalters — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:21:39 -0000

Correct on all counts, except that Leftist-thing.

I make Reagan look like JFK...er...come-and-go...yup, that's me too.

:-)

Re: Is The Problem Sales Versus Support?

GregWalters — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:24:03 -0000

Ok - it's simple really.

Sales people, in the past, make promises for other people in the organization to keep.

How u like me now?

Re: The Managed Print Services Ecosystem

GregWalters — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:42:14 -0000

That Greg guy sure is smart.

Ok, maybe not all that smart.

I like the MPS Ecosystem idea, I really do. Because I look at MPS holistically and a bit ideally. And I too, look at MPS form different aspects and angles.

I guess I should say that yes, hardware is the platform that all else is built upon. And yes, a good MPS engagement/relationship is going to result in hardware placements.

My "anti-hardware" stance is simply this : MPS is different, if one uses MPS as a marketing ploy designed to pull equipment sales through, the approach is short term, copier-like, and flawed.

If the assessment clearly shows hardware should be purchased, then hardware is purchased.

But - go back to my above statement. I don't say "don't sell hardware". But perhaps I should say, MPS is not about hardware," it's about more than just hardware..."

There is an underlying aspect to all this and it's something I like to call "hardware heavy" accounts; simply meaning, the account has too many printers, copiers, supplies on site - they have been oversold. Probably due to the "commissions are paid and market share determined by hardware..." mentality of the last few decades.

So I am rallying against the old model. Windmills, I am sure.

Either way, I know that if the "big boys" get in the game, and they have, they will drive what they can to their hardware - they have no choice.

For the manufacturers, there is no REAL incentive to reduce the amount of toner they sell each year, or limit the number of copiers they manufacture, or even reduce volume output on their machines, in their "enterprise" accounts.

It will be done, grudgingly, because that's how commissions and market share are determined.

It's almost like the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Re: Rants, Resources, Reflections, and Revelations

GregWalters — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:58:31 -0000

ok - I am in -

will be up sometime...

Re: The End of Silence: ChangeForge Launches OdioGo Integration

GregWalters — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:39:48 -0000

Say What?

And getting the PodCast of your posts is easy too...I think.

I often listen to my posts in the vehicle on the way to Imperial or San Diego or Irvine...

I am still trying to figure out how to change gender and tone of the voice...hubba hubba...

Thanks for the shout out!

Re: How Do You Spell MPS?

GregWalters — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:52:05 -0000

Max!

Most xlint points.

I see this in the real world - did just yesterday.

My latest approach is to let the client define for me what they "think" MPS is; their definition.

And guess what, unless it is completely out of line, I agree with them and move forward.

Re: Selling to the Economy

GregWalters — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:46:03 -0000

Right on!

"Cost savings" is paramount.

And if your "solutions" always provided savings, then these could be the beginning of the "salad days".

One word of caution - FEAR is the motivator of the day.

Once it was the Red Threat, then the Soviet Union, then Global Warming, and today Global Financial destruction. When you hear anyone say "the economy will be damaged permanently" they are at best speaking from ignorance and at worse lying.

Do not believe this.

Econ 101 - "the economy is cyclical" - we are all on the same roller-coaster enjoy the ride.

Re: The Cruelty of, “I Wish …”

GregWalters — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:05:28 -0000

wow...dude...deep...

And so very very true - we all grow up being told how to "fit in" - perhaps not specifically, but like most influential things, implicitly - I especially like how you point out giving up some of yourself to please others.

Such a noble thing...so we are told...so we are told by so many "followers" and there "dear leaders"(bosses, wives, ministers, politicians, presidents...)

Just tow the line, don't make waves, be one of us, be one of "them"and you can be "cool".

Today, there are no rights of passage. There is no challenge to overcome in order to be a man or to become your own person in this world

And all the reasons to stand out have been twisted into an adulteration or some sort of laughable caricature - "what do you mean, you LOVE your wife?...or respect the law, or think others in the world want to kill us?...what are you? weird?..."

There are NO Cowboys (brokeback mountain does not count...)

ahem...not sure if that was the message your were looking to convey - but I am weird like that...

Re: Is Change an Evolution or a Revolution?

GregWalters — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:46:48 -0000

I was the last one on "my block" to go BlackBerry - of course now, I can not live without it...

I love tech, but I end up waiting to jump, because I don't like to be part of the "in" crowd...

Good post

Re: Living Life In The Rearview

GregWalters — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:26:20 -0000

oh boy - Al Bundy...

"Yeah, I used to have dreams, until I got married...now they're just broken and shattered, lying on the side of the road, in the rain, mocking me..." -

I do not feel this way, but, I see it in so many peoples eyes - the 1,000 yard stare.

The best day of his life occurred in High School? Really?...No, REALLY?

I know you know - the best day in my life, is just around the corner...

Re: If You Care You’ll Call: WatchGuard Reaches Out.

GregWalters — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:28:49 -0000

wow.

Blogging...who knew?

very good.

Re: To Confirm or Not Confirm: That Is The Question?

GregWalters — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:22:54 -0000

Max -

I know you have a firm grip on this, but pity the sales soul who asks the question.

I don't confirm. I set the appointment deep - if I do want to confirm, I tell them I will confirm a day before via email.

Appointments do not cancel on me unless there is a major problem with the client's schedule which does occur.

All challenges and problems in the selling cycle happen "up stream" - if you set wussy appointments, you are more likely to be stood up.

If you don't get a credit approval early, your cycle will be extended if not completely negated.

If you set an appointment with users not decision makers - you get the point.

Good post.

Re: The Customer Is NOT Always Right!

GregWalters — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:30:48 -0000

LOL!

Yes, you did, Number One...

Re: The Customer Is NOT Always Right!

GregWalters — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:27:47 -0000

Ken - There must be something in the air beside doom and gloom -

Great Insight, as revolutionary as it may sound to some, the concept of "firing a customer" has been around for a few years now...not only is it revolutionary, it is liberating.

But you swerve into another exceptional aspect.

You say, "...There comes a time, however, when a company reaches a point where it understands who it is and what it offers..."

Why don't we substitute "sales person" for "company"?

"There comes a time, however, when a sales person reaches a point where he understands who he is and what he offers..."

Once at this level of awareness, the sales person is on his way to becoming a Selling Professional - confident in who he is, what he does and who he can help, and willing or maybe even desperate to work with like minded people - customers AND EMPLOYERS(I despise that word).

That's right, include not only customers but employers and ALL THOSE IN YOUR LIFE WHO ARE A NEGATIVE....fire 'em.

Selling is Life, Life is Selling -

Re: What’s In a Checkbox: Part 2?

GregWalters — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:57:14 -0000

wow...the check box strikes, again!

well, at least all this bother is a temporary thing - email is just a fad - it will go the way or wireless and digital TV...

BTW, anyone interested in a Buggy Whip? I got 1,000s, cheap.

Re: Last Call…

GregWalters — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:51:16 -0000

Yup - end of the year, time to plan for the new one.

Forecast, MIF upgrades, lease expiration, 90-120 day projections - sales forecasts all for the benefit of The Company.

What about planning for the benefit of YOU, NOT YOUR SALES MANAGER?

I hate to use this cliche, but "in these uncertain times..." personal planning is much better than planning on how you are going to make your "employer" more money next year. Sure, we all need to be accountable to "the company" - but only on a secondary level - be accountable to yourselves and your PERSONAL goals; these goals are set without your sales manager, and without a corporate trainer without HR in the room.

Re: Information Traction: Find It, Consume It, Apply It (Part 4 of 4)

GregWalters — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:30:08 -0000

Great Series!

I enjoyed.

Re: Living La Vida Virtual

GregWalters — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:19:29 -0000

VM - is a "Hot" ticket.

It's a Green issue - it's a cost saving issue, it's a support issue - all winners.

It's also an issue that end users really don't know about, nor do they really need to know -

Re: Mergers, Acquisitions, Layoffs - OH MY!

GregWalters — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:53:14 -0000

Wait - did you get laid off?

Holy Crap! Sorry to finally "get it" - I am an insensitive cad...

All things happen...

Re: Is the Road to Hell Paved with Green-Intentions?

GregWalters — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:15:39 -0000

LOL!

Yup! Paved Green. And I am driving the bus!

Interesting - now, having recently attended a Green Summit with HP, I have a new fondness for things Green.

And in typical fashion, HP really does not "toot its own horn" all that well.

The company is very green and has been for a very long time - and get this - it was done to be a more responsible Global Citizen BEFORE it was considered "chic".

Re: Do You Wonder Why Corporate IT Blocks Your Web Activity?

GregWalters — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:25:04 -0000

Very interesting...I understand.

The other day, I had my IT guy explain to me why I could not get to my blog on my Blackberry - although I am paying for the verizon internet access.

After diagraming it for me, I got it... I think.

Has to do with security because I get my email from our Blackberry server, blah blah blah...

I still want access to my blog from my Blackberry...

Re: Are Technology Leaders Focusing on the Minutia Too Much?

GregWalters — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:31:05 -0000

Ken,

Good article.

As human nature goes, isn't this "focus on the minutia" expected when times get "bad"?

As the seas get rough, doesn't the captain command, "...batten down the hatches"?

And "circle the wagons" when the bad-guys attack?

And "sell something today, now..." as the sales manager looks at forecast vs. actual vs. the calendar.

Concerning? Yes.

I guess the good commanders can re-focus on what makes sense at the time, without losing the overall vision of the mission.

Re: Why Document Management Will Fail In Your Company

GregWalters — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:11:44 -0000

Well - indeed.

Try this one:

A selling professional works 6 months on a solution for an account. From day one, the monthly cost of the solution was 100% of the cost the company was incurring in 8-part, pre-printed forms. Day one. This was the easiest calculation to make, had the most significance, and should have been enough for the company to jump in with both legs.

There is more -

By having Picking tickets print in the inventory control department instead of them being generated in accounting and "walked" out back, the number of lost orders would be reduced to 0 - when one order is lost a month (unbelievably, this was a fact) the costs associate with this occurrence reached into the tens of thousands of dollars - each time.

After an unbelievable amount of negotiations the deal was signed and the project launched - and as you can guess, the nightmare began...3 years later, the solution is still not fully implemented.

Many lessons learned.

I have a saying, "An EDM solution is like a magnifying glass - it makes the good thing better and the bad things worse..."

Re: New! Come and See the New Face of ChangeForge…

GregWalters — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:42:24 -0000

nice logo...and very nice colors...

I like.

Re: What You Missed: Sales Advice From the “IT Guy”.

GregWalters — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:30:27 -0000

Amen!

The Interview.

Period.

What I love about stating that the interview is the most important tool in the MPS shed is - MY COMPETITION WILL NOT LISTEN, DOES NOT BELIEVE AND WILL LEAD WITH A VOLUME ASSESSMENT.

And even more delicious, if my "competition" decides to use my Talk Track - they will fall on their face because they see it as a tactic leading to a close - NOT a device to attract their Prospect by solving problems....business problems...

Business Acumen.

Amen.