We All Need Some Boot Camp

Selling something to me is very difficult. In stores, my wife is trained to run sales interference. When a sales person looks at me and asks, “May I help you?" She knows that her job is to walk towards the person while I walk away. If you call my office, that first line had better be a great offer of something to improve my ability to meet the goals of Broadvox or you will hear, “Thank you very much. Have a nice day." I deliver two of those before hanging up. So, imagine that one day I see an offer that I can’t refuse. I decide to go out of my way to be sold to by a person and a company of which I have no knowledge. But that day changed my approach to using the Internet to generate leads and sell product.

I have been involved with the Internet since 1992. I have my actual name on Yahoo! for my e-mail address, no numbers, no nickname. I developed a branded eCommerce website in 1997 for an international celebrity restaurant brand. However, on this day, I encountered a man who actually added not just to my knowledge, but more importantly, my curiosity. Of all the people in the room, I needed what he was selling least. Yet, of all the people in the room, I knew I could leverage his skills the most. Within weeks I hired a company called WebDex, now Splash Media, to handle Broadvox’s search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Paul Slack and his team performed as promised, but more important to me, they were the catalyst for new ideas and sales strategies. Our partnership lasted a very successful nine months before I reluctantly cut them loose. I hired my own Internet marketing expert and began our current SEO/SEM campaign.

Wednesday, I spent 90 minutes allowing Paul to sell to me and about 75 other people again. I did this because the seminar was called, “Social Media Boot Camp for CEOs," a fitting description. Although Broadvox has over 600 followers on Twitter, a Facebook page, LinkedIn page, YouTube channel and this blog syndicated on eight websites and Internet communities, I knew that I would learn something and he would ignite my curiosity again. He did. Take this advice to heart. If Splash Media is conducting one of their free 90-minute social media seminars in your city this year, you should take the time to attend.

See you on Monday with another new recipe.

David Byrd is vice president of marketing and sales for Broadvox , and is responsible for marketing and channel sales programs to SMBs, enterprises and carriers as well as defining the product offering. Prior to joining Broadvox, David was the vice president of Channels and Alliances for Eftia and Telcordia. As director of eBusiness Development with i2 Technologies, he developed major partnerships with many of the leaders in Internet eCommerce and supply chain management. As CEO of Planet Hollywood Online he was a pioneer in using early Internet technologies to build a branded entertainment and eCommerce website company partnered with Planet Hollywood. Having over 20 years of telecom sales and marketing experience, he has held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Sprint and Ericsson.