New Light on the Subject –

I have been working for almost two years to get into this one company to do their 401 K program. It is a good sized company, growing fast, and they have doctors, but they have been reluctant to pull the trigger on a program because of the economy. They finally started the process and my name wasn’t on the list of prospective providers. My contact with the company got me an appointment for a presentation at the last minute.

I was panicked. I hadn’t been able to meet with them to do any data gathering and they were already at the selection stage. They sent a truly ugly RFP by way and it was some idiot document pulled from the internet and gave no direction at all. I had no time to prepare, no direction, no ideas on a plan design solution, and big expectations. My friend had stuck his neck out for me to arrange my appointment. I did what any silly sales guy does – I procrastinated hoping for then to just give me the business based on good looks. That would be a fast shut down.

I actually prayed like crazy for a couple of days with nothing reveled to me. The day before the presentation I was in a real panic. Then that morning during prayers it all came together. I saw how I needed to organize my presentation and spent a couple of hours after the temple shift that night preparing the agenda. During the meeting I had to fight the urge to persuade and sell and instead I helped them organize their thoughts and outlined what they needed to do to put a complex plan in place. We got really involved in mapping out their organization and what they needed to do and we ran out of time before I had told them all my sales points. I thought it was over.

They called the next morning to say that I was the only one that seemed interested in their business organization and how to help them put the proper plan in place. The business was mine and they canceled two other presentations. The spirit is a great business partner – I ought to use it more.

The other light came from mom’s wishes to have new lights in the front entry. We spent all day on rented scaffolding 15 ft in the air changing out the light fixture. Ladders aren’t my thing anymore.