Give and Receive Gifts

22 June 2009 - It was Monday and as I opened the mail box to extract the ads and a few bills I notices a large envelope with what appeared to be a book in it addressed to me. I was pretty sure I hadn't ordered any new books but was very interested to see what was inside.

After sorting the mail I handed a few things to my lovely wife Crystal and then opened the envelope. It was a new book from a good friend, Tom Freese, called, "Selling Yourself in Today's Competitive Market". The note indicated I was receiving an early release and thanks for supporting him over the years.

Tom and I met in 2001 on a day that we both, nor will any American, forget. We were in San Diego, CA preparing for a sales training event that we had been working on while I was employed with Compaq (pre-merger to HP). Tom had been contracted to work with my customer to help improve their over all sales of Compaq products using QBS (Questioned Based Selling).

News reached us that something was going on so we rolled in a TV at our first break to catch the broadcast. To say the least it was difficult to continue with our training while reports of jets crashing into buildings was going on that day on Sept 11. From that moment forward we have been friends which often happens when tragedy strikes.

With over 25 years of Sales and Marketing experience you can imagine that I have attended a lot of different sales courses. Compaq and other companies I've worked for each year come out with, "NEW" sales methodologies but in reality it's the same with a new name. After reading Tom's first book, "It Only Takes 1%", the light became very bright and since then I have applied his thoughts to my day to day work and other aspects of my life.

Each year it seems I receive a gift of some sorts; something I just wasn't expecting to happen. Sixteen years ago it was life after surviving cancer. Last year it was the winner of radio contest with XX1090 in support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and a bicycle ride from San Francisco to San Diego. Yesterday it was Tom's new book and mention in the Acknowledgements (page VI).

I'm a very lucky and blessed person and extremely proud of the people I've connected with in life. My hope is that I can pass along something in each of those encounters that helps that individual in some way shape or form. Tom Freese has that same philosophy and I'm fortunate to have him as a friend.