Tammi's World

Definition of Success

So I had a Roll Out meeting last night. What that boils down to is simply this. I rent a conference room at a hotel, order food, put together a presentation about the new product, have handouts and do a dog and pony show. Desired result? The sales people are excited about the product, understand the benefits and sell the hell out of it.

This is my largest department store account. I have 8 stores with 2 to 5 people per store. This was pretty high profile. I guess you could go so far as to say it was rather important.

So how did I spend my day in preparation? Well.....I woke up early. Drank more coffee than I should have. Watched the ballons float by my window. Blogged. Blogged. Sent some emails. Blogged. Looked at the presentation. Started making some corrections/additions. Blogged. Talked to Bou on the phone. Talked to Joe on the phone.

Suddenly I realized it was 4:00. My comment to Joe? Well, shit. I guess I'm gonna need to figure out what to wear? And I should probably finish up this presentation. And I better hope traffic isn't to bad.

Then....I blogged some more.

Got showered and dressed. Went for a more causal thing - skirt and top, no pantyhose, open toed sandles. Hey - it was a Sunday night, damn it. I just couldn't see puttin' on the ritz for a 7:00 meeting on a Sunday night.

Anyway - I got there - plenty of time to spare. Pulled things together. The hotel staff were wonderful. People started arriving about 45 mins early. No problem. Might actually have a good turn out.

By 7:00 there were 10 people there. Ten. 9 + 1. I was expecting 30.

Now......the Daytona 500 did end at 6:00 so I4 was a virtual parking lot. Plus....the stores didn't close until 7:00 so many didn't even try to make it.

But 10 people! Damn.....kinda hard to psyc yourself up for that.

But I did it. We had a wonderful meal and then I launched right in. We talked about the product - lots and lots of interaction. Then we talked about the "new stuff". They LOVED it! Hell....at 9:00 I had to throw THEM out!

The funniest part? In the middle of the dog and pony show I realize I've kicked off my shoes at some point. I'm walking around the Hilton Ballroom barefooted giving my presentation. Talk about CASUAL.

By some standards it was a less than stellar evening. Me? I think it was a roaring success. The people that were there learned. And care. They will sell my beds. We had a chance to bond. We laughed. (mostly at me, but that's ok) They will talk about this with those that did not make it. The word will spread.

Yeah - it wasn't a bad night after all.

Posted by Tammi at February 21, 2005 09:40 AM