Remember the Ostrich in Bugs Bunny?

As I blogged about previously, I left a large ,well established software firm this past summer, whom I refer to as “Major Corp”, to join a fast moving start up.

One of the things I have learned since joining this company is just how much social media has impacted the business environment.

Some recent studies have suggested that as many as 40% of all consumers would prefer to interact with a company, prior to making a large purchase. Social media provides the perfect context in which to do so.

So, the recent conversation I had with a sales manager at Major Corp is overwhelming to me.

Major Corp. does not maintain much of an online presence. Of course they have a website, but they do not interact in social media whatsoever. No blog, no Twitter account, no Facebook. In fact, the majority of the marketing money they spend is on two large events per year, where they invite feedback from current customers, meanwhile making sure that the customers are well fed and watered. Yep, you heard me; current customers. If I revealed their name, I would challenge you to find marketing ANYWHERE that was aimed at attracting new customers.

So, it seems that recently, a few enterprising members of the sales team approached the director of marketing for Major Corp with a simple idea. They wanted to start a blog, updating interested parties about the new things going on at Major Corp, trends in their market, etc.  Their thinking was that it would be a great way to get people interested in talking to them, and may turn into eventual sales opportunities. They understood that any posts would have to be approved by marketing, but were willing to spend the extra effort, feeling that it would be worth it.

The answer? - No. It seems that the marketing department was concerned that people would be tempted to leave negative comments, if they found the blog. I’m not kidding.

So stuck in the past are they, so comfortable that they maintain a lead in the marketplace, that they are diligently AVOIDING input to help build their business beyond current results. And now, as the recession truly takes hold in the global economy, I am told they are suffering an erosion of customers, and a loss of real new opportunities.

Ask me if I’m happy to be with this new company.

What do you want to be when YOU grow up?

For those that know me well, and that is mostly the family members that read this blog ,would tell you that sales was not my first vocation.
I wanted to be, from the time I was 8, a professional drummer. I got my first drum set at the age of 8, for Christmas. It was a toy set straight out of the Sears catalogue. I understand that my folks didn’t want to make a big investment in a real kit for a kid, not knowing if my commitment would be real.
Well, it was. I beat the crap out of that kit for months on end, till there was nothing left of it. It was not meant to take a real pounding, and back then, I took my drumming inspiration from John Bonham. If you know anything about the long departed drummer for Led Zeppelin, you’ll know that he played HARD. And so did I. In fact, as I continued playing, I gathered a reputation as a hard driving, LOUD drummer.
By the time I hit my early twenties, I was playing drums for a living; it was everything I had worked for. And you know what? I hated it.
Don’t get me wrong ;being on stage every night was joyous. It was everything else that got under my skin.
I did not like living out of a suitcase, travelling to a different town night after night. I detested all the “road food” I ate. You travelling road warriors know what I mean. Still can't eat a French Fry to this day, so scarred am I from that experience.
Mostly though, what bothered me was being in an industry that was built more on dream than reality. Every musician I hung out with or played with seemed to be fooling themselves about the reality of the situation. I realized early into my drumming career, that no matter how good I got, I may never get that big break. Most of the people I knew back then never got it. Some of those guys are still playing today, still hoping and dreaming that they will be discovered.
When I got off the road, I put my kit away, and didn’t pick up a set of sticks for four years. I may never have played again, if it wasn’t for my sister. She bugged me until I finally got out the old kit.I thank her now, because I rediscovered why I started playing in the first place; because I LIKE playing drums. Simple.
Today, 37 years after that Christmas with my first kit, I still play. When we bought the house we now live in, I finished a part of the basement into a music room, and now have 2 kits set up. I play the music I want to play (currently Jazz and Latin music. Very challenging!). - It’s the most fun I have ever had behind the kit.