Let me share a quick story with you. Right now I am looking for a company to commission an assessment report. Company A, thinks that any day now I am going to sign with them. Meanwhile I have been evaluating Company B.

Company B has come out as a favorite, but by only a couple points. I was able to negotiate with Company B down to what Company A wanted to charge me. Because Company B costs the same and I believe they would do better (but only slightly), I am going to go with Company B.

Can anyone tell me what Company A is doing wrong? Don’t answer, it is a rhetorical question and if you answer you probably shouldn’t be in sales.

What Company A is doing wrong:

1.       Company A has not picked up the phone every single day to find out  where I am in the process

2.       Company A has not asked me if I was speaking to another company

3.       Company A has not asked me what the other company wanted to charge me and what I feel are the differences between the two

4.       Company A has not tried to make me an offer I cannot refuse

Please please please, do not act, think or be like Company A. The deal is worth $10,000.

Posted via email from Jared Reitzin

In recent years, Twitter has grown from a place for teenagers to share what they just ate for lunch to a serious platform for businesses to connect with their customers and for the media to break stories. In late January of 2010, even Bill Gates (@BillGates) started “Twittering”, and in less than two weeks has more than 400,000 followers. Here are a few other CEO’s that you might look or the next time you are on Twitter.

@guykawasaki - Guy Kawasaki was one of the Apple employees responsible for the original Macintosh in 1984. Now he is the Alltop CEO. He is extremely active on Twitter and primarily uses it as a broadcasting tool to announce new Alltop sites. He currently has 211,577 followers.

@mashable - Pete Cashmore is the CEO of Mashable. With 1,954,389 followers, Pete is one of the most popular Twitter users. Pete uses Twitter to offer other users Twitter tips, Twitter news, and Twitter help. He also shares social media stories from around the web. Pete Cashmore views Twitter as an excellent companion to his company’s blog.

@gcolony - George Colony is the CEO of Forrester Research. His company provides market research mostly in the area of technology. George likes Twitter because it allows him to understand what his clients are thinking about the world of technology and his company. He also regularly tweets about his ideas and thoughts about the technological world. He currently has 6,575 followers.

@demandrichard - Richard Rosenblatt is the CEO of Demand Media. His company provides web content and SEO services to a wide variety of clients. Demand Media also owns eNom, one of the biggest domain registration companies in the world. With 6,642 followers, Richard uses Twitter to communicate with investors, users, colleagues, and clients in a real-time manner. He likes that Twitter feels much fresher and not as cold as email.

@DrBobParsons - Bob Parsons is the CEO and Founder of Go Daddy Group. When he’s not dreaming up effective Super Bowl advertising campaigns, Parsons is excited to connect with his 21,559 followers on Twitter. He says he really likes the subscription model of Twitter in which people sign up to follow you. In this way, he can be sure that whenever he sends out a message there are a lot of interested people on the other end.

@timyoung - Timothy Young is the CEO of Socialcast. On his Twitter profile, he proclaims that “Email is Dead”. Rather than email, Tim likes to use Twitter to engage in discussions with his customers. He also likes using Twitter to tune in to other conversations that people are having about his company, the social media industry, and market trends. Timothy Young currently has 2,101 followers on Twitter.

@jasonalba - Jason Alba is the CEO of JibberJobber. A fairly new company, JibberJobber is a career management platform that helps both individuals find jobs and business recruit employees. Alba likes to use Twitter to raise awareness for what exactly JibberJobber can do for them. Jason considers himself the personality of JibberJobber, and he loves that Twitter provides a place where he can put his personality on display like nowhere else. Jason Alba currently has 11,922 followers on Twitter.

@jnovogratz - Jacqueline Novogratz is the CEO of Acumen Fund. Acumen Fund is a non-profit organization whose goal is nothing less than the eradication of global poverty. Novogratz is also the author of a book, The Blue Sweater. Novogratz likes Twitter because it helps her to connect with like-minded individuals. She never knows who she might talk to that could offer an innovative solution to solving the world’s poverty crisis. She also likes to engage with readers of her book. She must have a lot of them, because she’s got 316,189 followers.

@lebrun - Marcel LeBrun is the CEO of Radian6. LeBrun likes to listen to his 11,865 followers to understand their needs. He says that a brand is now the sum of conversations about it.

@jayadelson - Jay Adelson is the CEO of Digg. For him, Twitter is a natural extension of Digg, which is all about sharing. He likes how he can use Twitter to personally let his 7,445 followers know what he “Diggs”.

@mediatrustpete - Peter Bordes is the CEO of MediaTrust. Bordes likes using Twitter to engage in conversations with his business partners, employees, and the MediaTrust community. He has 6,911 followers.

@zappos - Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos.com. With 1,686,481 followers, Hsieh is extremely popular on Twitter. Hsieh likes using Twitter to give customers an insight into his company’s personality and culture.

@timoreilly - Tim O’Reilly is the CEO of O’Reilly Media. Tim also has a massive following, with 1,434,381 followers. Tim thinks Twitter is a great way to keep his eye on the “alpha geeks” - those people who are on the cutting edge of technology. His company then tries to bring that technology to the masses.

@michaelhyatt - Michael Hyatt is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Hyatt has 73,020 followers. Most of them are his employees, customers, and authors, whom he likes to keep in close contact with.

@openjonathan - Jonathan Schwartz is the CEO of Sun Microsystems. Schwartz thinks that it’s important to reach out to people in whatever format they choose. He has apparently decided that Twitter is one of those formats, and he is currently connected through Twitter with 6,344 people.

This will undoubtedly spur a number of other people to go out there and brand themselves with the company they are so passionate about. Well I hope its mostly about the passion and not just about the money, after all your branded for life.

I was surprised that someone did this so quickly and even more surprised that four others have told me they too will get it soon. I like to think this says a lot about the type of company we have built. It’s not a start up with an unsure future . We are a profitable growing company who has been around for more than eleven years. Sure people could use a thousand dollars but most people I know do not have tattoos and would never get one no matter how much you offered them. Trying to get inside the mind of an employee willing to do this, all I can think of is that they love being part of a team working for a company doing great things. My guess is that it’s about pride, dedication, and making a difference.

Tomorrow our editor is going to post a video and interview with Roxanne on mobileStorm’s Digital Marketing Blog. I guess I will find out then what really inspired her.

I wonder how much this stunt is gonna cost me?

Why am I sharing this with you? Because as an entrepreneur you need to be insanely dedicated to your cause. I thought I would share with the public, my insane dedication (or at least what my mom calls insane).

I have been asked numerous times, “What happens if mobileStorm goes bankrupt? Won’t you hate that you got that?”.  My answer is always the same. I have learned so much about how to run a company and have had so much fun doing so, that even if I lost everything tomorrow, I would still deem mobileStorm a major success. To me, mobileStorm can never fail. And that is why I won’t need to seek out Dr. Tattoff as one might, after a bad break up with an ex-girlfrend.

That being said, having a permanent symbol on your body tends to make you believe that failure is not an option. It is a constant reminder of the dedication you need to have. Maybe this is the same reason people get a tattoo of their spouses name? I guess they feel they will work harder at the relationship since there is a permanent and visible reminder, that, or a really crazy night in Vegas.

Failure is not an option when you ink yourself up, but having dedication is everything.

On a related matter, I have a $1,000 standing bonus in my company for anyone who gets the tornado in a visible spot and lets us blog about it. No takers yet, however someone did want to get one on the inside of their lip, but this is to gangster and it fades after two years. Maybe I will institute a “tear drop tat” policy for anyone who loses a customer.

Every time we try to fill a position, I feel that the majority of people either a.) aren’t really looking for a job but are just sending their resumes to see what is out there or, b.) don’t have any self-esteem and feel that they are one of a thousand applicants and there is no way they can get a job, so why bother to send a polished document. Here are five tips to make sure someone reads your resume and calls you in for an interview:

1. Attach a Cover Letter: Far too many people simply email you their resumes and there is nothing in the body of the email, just a Word doc attachment. It’s as if the applicants are just sending their resumes to as many people as possible, and they don’t have time to write a quick intro on themselves and why they want this job. I can tell you right now the only time I review coverless-letter resumes is if I am not getting a sufficient number of applicants; otherwise, they are trashed. Showing your personality and thoughts on the position goes a long way. Also, most executives are reading your resume on their blackberries. Can we open Word attachments? Yes, but it takes 15 seconds; reading the body of the email does not. Entice us with a beautiful cover and then hit us hard with a good story.

2. Do Your Research: A company wants to see that you have researched their website, studied their business model, and know what they are all about. They want to hear comments like, “I really feel I would fit into your corporate culture because of x.” Flattery does get you far; just make sure you don’t get cheesy.

3. Looks Do Matter: Ever met a really ugly girl or guy and say to yourself, “Gee, I would love to go on a date with this person.”? If your answer is yes, then you are Gandhi and I am shallow, but for most of the human race that’s not the case, so why would you send over an ugly resume? Folks, spend some time formatting your resume, use pretty fonts, bold and italicize when possible, and add in nice dividers and color. An employer wants to see someone who pays attention to detail and takes pride in making himself look good.

4. Read the Ad: Recently, I was looking for a sales person and I was getting resumes from NASA engineers. Now I guess it is possible that a NASA engineer could be a good sales person but if, and only if, they were selling carbon fiber casings for the new X2120 shuttle. There were so many applicants from career paths that made absolutely no sense that I was almost positive a large majority of people were just sending out their resumes for the sake of sending them. I know we are in a recession, but when does a CPA wake up one day and say to himself, “I want to carry quota!” And if these people really do want to change career paths, they should refer to #1 above. Finally (and this is an old human resources trick), we can really tell if someone has not read the job requirements because at the bottom we like to add a note that says, “DO NOT ATTACH YOUR RESUME.” Anyone who does goes into the deleted folder because, clearly, if they cannot follow simple instructions, how are they going to manage choosing the right carbon fiber vendor?

5. Be Flexible With Who You Are: I can see my lawyer wincing right now but let’s be honest–if your name is Pjhlzeinaian, just change your name to Phil. We can’t pronounce it anyway and that might be the reason we don’t hire you. Besides, if you do get the job, someone is just going to start calling you Phil anyway and even though you feel your parents will be upset because they named you, they will be happier when your ass gets a job and moves out.

What’s great about this device is that you can connect to it wirelessly from a laptop. Actually up to 4 people can connect and all project their own screens in 4 different quadrants. mobileStorm just moved its corporate headquarters into a new building with tons of space, really high ceilings etc.. I am working on ways to use all of the space since the majority of our employees don’t work out of corporate.

A couple of employees gave me the idea to project stuff on this big white wall we have. I found this projector and the rest is history. Currently I am using it to project positive words and inspirational tid bits. I also plan to use it for quick “stay put” presentations (yes I made this term up). Everyone in the room simply looks over at the wall from desk (since we are all in one big room it makes communication very open and fluid).

I need ideas for what I can do with this projector. Got any ideas of what I could dispaly that would keep the team energized and entertained? I would love to hear them.

The reason I push my team to document everything and turn it into a process, is because the faster and more efficiently we can do something, the more we can scale our business. And the more we can scale our business, the bigger we will get and the more valuable we will be. The benefit of a product is you are selling a thing and not your time. However a big part of a service-based business requires human involvement. So how do you turn a service into a product?

Smaller companies are so busy hustling to make a buck; they usually only do an ok job at productizing their service. Does this sound like you? This is something you need to change if you want to see massive growth. I admit I am guilty of not always following thru and having the disciple to ensure everything my company does becomes a template, but I recognize that and try to strive for it.

Service-based businesses typically don’t have a large multiple when it comes time to sell. Meaning they won’t sell the company for much more than what it is grossing each year. It’s like being a dentist; you only make money when you are in the office (franchisee owners aside). Being a SaaS company mobileStorm has the opportunity to sell software and messaging which is great, because it has a very high profit margin and can be recreated over and over again for little cost. However the service part of our business can slow our growth if we don’t execute right. Service means head count, and people are always the highest cost to any organization, hence one of the reasons service based companies don’t have the best valuations. However the smart service companies recognize this and put a plan in place so they can scale. Look at salesforce.com, they now have a market cap of 8.24 billion, I remember when their stock was at $15, its now $65! These guys figured the perfect way to offer software and service.

Picture a restaurant, the only thing that makes a restaurant work are human beings (Japanese vending machines aside). One of the reasons McDonalds was so successful, is they hired and trained someone to do one thing over and over again. One person puts the fries in the oil, one person squirts the ketchup on the bun, one person puts the burger in a wrapper, and so on and so forth. Because it is such mindless work (sorry teenagers), they could ramp an employee up really fast, offer low wages and get the food out to the customer quickly, thus, producing billions of burgers at a very low cost. They took a resource intensive business and figured out how to scale the hell out of it. They invented their own service methodology that is studied in MBA programs all around the world (or so I heard, I am no MBA).

You should always ask yourself can the service you are going to launch (or are thinking about creating) truly scale and be profitable. This might mean more work up front, taking a step back, delaying a launch or deciding not to do something altogether.

Below are 10 things a business can do to move towards turning a product into a service (feel free to comment and add more):

1. Before rolling out any new service make sure it can be duplicated quickly and that it is well documented. It has to become a template. Everyone has to know what job positions handle the various aspects of the service, what the time frames are like, and what the costs are.
2. Implementing training programs to ramp people faster. The hard part here is to make sure you consistently update those programs as your service, platform, and the industry evolves.
3. Implement tracking and hold people accountable.
4. Reward and recognize those individuals that are consistent and improve the process.
5. Always identify tools to help speed up the time it takes to perform a task. A service should not be  launched if it does not have at least one tool to speed up the process.
6. Your marketing department/person needs to make all your services look and feel like a product.
7. Create a repository of all processes that is well organized and can be easily searched. Lots of people are using Wiki’s these days. We use PBwiki but I am not thrilled about it.
8. You need leaders who want to control process and be responsible for packaging it.
9. Create a process to figure out the best way to create a process, i.e. a template for your template.
10. Be disciplined to always follow the process and never deter, unless its to improve the process. As your business matures its less about taking a deal because someone is willing to pay you, and more about taking a deal because you have a process that will allow you to knock it out of the park. This will keep you focused and close to your vision.

Reprogram your minds to always first think about how to productize your service, you will become more valuable in a shorter period of time.

My inspiration for this post was an article written by Anita Campbell, I suggest everyone reads it:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/innovation/article/5-steps-to-turning-a-service-into-a-product-so-you-can-sell-your-business-anita-campbell

Twitter has really turned into a major news source. It is not only where I go to find out in real-time what is going on around me (like what was that loud boom in my neighborhood), it is also becoming one of my primary news sources for my industry, my company and myself.

If you can think of something and say it within 140 characters, you can enter your thought into the thought stream. The only way of being able to visualize the thought stream is with a app like TweetDeck. You can enter in any search term you want like “Email Marketing Solution” or “Mobile Marketing” and then sit back and like that little email box that fades in and out when you get a new email in Outlook, anytime someone puts a thought out on twitter and it matches your search criteria you get alerted. The most important terms in my industry are now popping up on a second by second basis. It takes me no time at all to glance at the new tweet, and within a split second I can decide whether or not I want to take some sort of action. I follow my name in case anyone is talking about me, if they are I engage with them personally. I follow my company name for the same reason and most of the time it is people telling the world what a good experience they had with us. If they are a client, I like to do something special for them.

As I stated above I also follow important search terms. What you will find is that you get someone looking for a solution, email , mobile or otherwise. You can reach out and contact that person directly and now you are using the thought stream as a way to generate leads. I also love how easy it is to re-tweet something you found interesting. If you don’t tweet as much as I do, but you know it is important to do so for a decent sized following, then the re-tweet is a great feature and one that is easily done using TweetDeck.

On a personal note, I only use facebook for friends and family. I don’t like logging into facebook on my mobile device or from a desktop, it takes time and it’s a time suck, so it is nice to not have to log in anywhere to see your friends status updates and wall posts, TweetDeck also provides this functionality.

I bet within 5 minutes of this post someone is going to tweet this article, and then others will re-tweet it. Heck I will tweet it now, so to get some more views to my blog.

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They are one in a million too now, even though they may be the CEOs of some of the richest and most successful companies in the world - Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, Kevin Rose of Digg.Com, Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems and John Lilly of Mozilla.Com are just a few of the top honchos who have taken to Twitter to let the world know more about their companies and themselves. It’s a micro blogging site that lets you put forth your opinion in 140 letters, and it has taken the world by storm, so much so that even some of the most powerful people in the world are now hooked to it.

So why and how do CEOs use Twitter? Well, the reasons may vary, but the benefits they reap remain the same across the board. In general, CEOs could use Twitter to:

• Take their company to the common man: When you feel that the CEO of a company is speaking personally to you, you tend to feel more favorable towards that particular company. So you prefer to use their products and services as opposed to a competitor’s, because it feels like you’re doing a friend a favor. People are more likely to get people interested in the company when the head honcho itself is communicating to them directly, even if it is together with hundreds of thousands of other followers.
• Provide quick updates: Twitter is a great tool to let people have a sneak preview of what’s new in their enterprise and what the future could hold. They no longer seem to have the time or the inclination to read long-winded press releases or informal blog posts. Short is sweet, and Twitter helps them accomplish this effortlessly.
• Monitor what people are saying: The Internet is a relatively safe place for people to get away with saying what they want and not being sued for slander. This allows people to be as free as they want and to give vent to their feelings on Twitter. The worst part of this is that news travels fast, especially when it’s negative and directed towards some of the topmost enterprises in the world. When CEOs use Twitter, they can monitor what people are saying about their companies, good or bad, and take appropriate action.
• Boost traffic to their websites: Behind every successful company is a successful website, and one way to boost your website is to provide Twitter updates that will drive your followers to it. When traffic increases, you know you’ve made more than just a hit in the online world.
• Follow people who matter: It’s no secret that CEOs are very busy people who do not have the time to follow too many people on Twitter. To use their time on this application effectively, they could choose to follow a select set of people who they admire as salespersons or financial whizzes and other CEOs who they admire and who are relevant to their industry.

Twitter is just one tool in the arsenal of CEOs that could be used to propagate their companies’ popularity, and when used well, it pays off rich dividends.

He breaks down 5 questions that you should ask yourself:

1. Why should great people want to work with you?
2. Do you know a great person when you see one?
3. Can you find great people who aren’t looking for you?
4. Are you great at teaching great people how your team or company works and wins?
5. Are you as tough on yourself as you are on your people?

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/05/memo_to_a_young_leader_what_ki.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a38:g26:r17:c0.000116:b28574983:z6