Coley Perry

>компютри втора употребаo all,

Sorry for the long delay it has been a very challenging 6 months with the start of my graduate program at Northwestern University and my wife’s pregnancy.  She has been high risk and it has been a long road for us but on February 24th we had our first child.  A beautiful baby girl.  It has been the most enlightening experience of my entire life.  It has been an amazing journey that has finally come to an end. I look forward to parenthood and all the challenges that I face on that front.  Not to mention one of the biggest challenges was coming up with a name that would look great on a resume!

It has also motivated me to get back and dedicate to the blog.  I get great joy out of writing on this webpage about important business topics.  I encourage your comments and will be hopefully writing on a more regular basis.

Here is to a happy and prosperous 2008!

Coley

Hello All!

 It has been a long time since I have written a post.  I have been buried with school work at Northwestern and picking up the slack for my wife as we are expecting our first child.  That along with two dogs keeps me busy when I am not doing my day job!

The program I am in at Northwestern is fantastic.  It is the “MBA for the IT worker”.  It has really been a great experience thus far and I expect much fun to follow. 

The Cubs lost in the playoffs, but my Red Sox allegiance due to my wife being from the South Shore has kept us going here.  We are hoping for another ALCS victory and trip to the World Series.

I wanted to drop a note to say that I am still out here and I will be back with another post soon.  The topic will most likely be about what happens when your IT hiring reputation is damaged in the hiring marketplace and what do you do from a marketing standpoint to increase your odds of attracting, cultivating and hiring the right people at the right time for the right job…

Until Next post…

Here is a link to my latest publication on the topic of IT Human Capital and working with a recruiter.  This was covered in print on the web.  I welcome your comments….

 http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=310

If you are not paying attention to the convergence of these three business units and you are in the IT staffing industry you are letting the world pass you by.  It is critical that you be versed in the challenges, processes and inter-workings of all three of these business units within your client organization.  The lines between them when a firm is acquiring Permanent, Contract to Hire or Contract IT resources are blurring at a fast pace.  Very often two of the three or all three are intimately involved in the process.

To add value to your clients you must be able to integrate into this fold and offer past experience, best practices, market information and current market condition information.  Education is the most valuable tool you have in your bag with the constrained market and the fast pace that currently exists.  Each of these business units has different drivers, requirements, motivations and controls placed on them.  The end goal is putting the right candidate in the right chair at the right time but very often if you are not integrated into this web you will lose a placement, lose revenue and your client will miss out on a potentially important resource.

I have a couple of quick thoughts to keep in mind when working with clients and developing a truly beneficial relationship…

1. Understand the process from the perspective of each of these business units.

2. Have a point of contact and a good working relationship with each relevant business unit involved in the acquisition process.

3. Understand the HR controls in place to ensure you do not waste time with a candidate that may not meet these requirements.  These could be background checks, personality testing, legal, compliance, etc.

4. Understand any Procurement requirements in place including contracts, legal, compliance, etc.

5.  Ask questions of your IT Hiring Managers to understand “What happens if I do not fill this position, What are the technical requirements?, What are the soft skills, political savvy requirements and personal traits required to excel in the position?

Sounds simple but with all of the changes in the marketplace grounding your efforts around these points will help.

 Good Luck!

Coley

Hey everyone.  These are some books that I have been looking at lately.  I recommend them to everyone in the world of business.

 The first is “The Dip” by Seth Godin. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/

Outstanding fast read and helps you focus.  I think this is a must for everyone.  It will take a day!

The second is “Selling Sucks” by Frank Rumbauskas Jr. http://www.selling-sucks.com/?gclid=CKXHn8KU040CFREDWAodIWbimQ

Frank is a guy that I have been paying attention too for a while.  I like his style and we have a similar background starting in the Phone System sales business.  I just related to what he was saying right away.  Good book that makes you think about what you are doing and for a veteran keeps you focused and for a rookie opens your eyes.

Would love to hear comments from your about your thoughts on these.  Happy reading and of course Happy Selling!

 Coley

http://benbradley.net/2007/07/08/in-the-sales-process-help-your-customers-and-embrace-the-fud/

If Bluetooth is an open standard how come all of the inter-connectivity of devices depends on a contract and revenue?  Would it not be easier to just publish the standard for your device so we could all just get along?

Case in point…  My Palm Treo 700W from Verizon does not work with my car.  It is not approved on the cars approved list and Palm says that they do not have an agreement with BMW to make it compatible.

This seems stupid.  I think I would chuck my Treo before I chucked my car.  The frustration, loss of productivity and minimal cost of the Treo related to the cost of a car makes me think there are a lot of angry Treo owners out there looking for a new phone not a new car…

However there is hope…  This guy is bridging the gap… It helps me integrate about 80% of the way.  If you need help just let me know I have 1,000,000,000 man hours logged on the integration of Treo’s with BMW iDrive!

www.jetwaremobile.com

Do you ever get the feeling that a cold call is like a spin of the roulette wheel?  Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.  Is this a game of chance or a game of skill?  Is this an effective use of time for any dedicated sales person?  I would like to hear about successes, failures and your general opinion of this topic.

Does anyone else believe that Chicago is a unique environment for selling technology services?  Is it different from Boston, New York, LA, San Francisco? 

Please share your thoughts…