Differences between Engineering and Sales

• We Show Up ON TIME!!
• I showed up for my first engineering meeting 15 minutes early, only to find the manager leading the meeting not show for a half hour and the meeting start 40 minutes late.
• I showed up to my first meeting in sales 15 minutes early and I was one of the last to arrive.

• We Wear Suits, Not Sandals
• My engineering manager used to wear a torn undershirt, shorts, and sandals with the occasional ragged baseball cap to work.
• Before I started in my sales role, I was provided with a document describing exactly what is considered acceptable business attire. Sandals are strictly prohibited :(

• Work Starts at 8 AM, Not Whenever The Engineers Roll Out of Bed :-P

• We CELEBRATE At Our Meetings
• Our Annual Engineering All-Hands Meeting was 2 hours at Shoreline Amphitheater with some band I have never heard of.
• Our Global Sales Meeting is a WEEK LONG event in VEGAS!! Aerosmith performed at last year's meeting!!

• SPIFFS
• "So, what's a spiff?” you ask. A spiff is defined by dictionary.com as: "a bonus or other form of remuneration given to retail salespeople for promoting the products of a particular manufacturer".
• Working in sales, there is always some form of competition and there is typically a spiff of some sort for the winner. For example, we had a presentation contest a few weeks ago. The winner received a $250 bonus and the top 5 received $100. We had a week long sales simulation/contest the week after. The winning team received tickets to a Carolina Hurricanes game. Also, two weeks into our JDRF Fundraising Initiative, my manager, Garrett, took everyone who had raised over $100 out on his boat for the afternoon. It was great, we left the office at 2:00 and went wakeboarding while everyone else stayed in class. Thanks everyone who donated :) Look for a final update in the upcoming weeks once the totals are tallied.
  

• We’re ALWAYS Connected
• The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is check my email. Then once I get into the office, the first thing I do is check my email once again. Then, of course, I have my email open all day. If I have a 10 minute break in class, you guessed it, I check my email. Then I check my email before I go home. And once I get home, I check my email yet again. And of course, before I go to bed, I check my email. I now understand the reason people know us as “the email company”. It’s pretty impressive; most emails are answered within 15 seconds.
• Once I get out into the field, I will get a Smart Phone, so I can answer my email at all times, even when I am not at my computer. Our managers use them now. It’s impressive how well they use the technology. I can get ahold of Garrett at just about any time. I have sent him emails at 2:30 AM and had a response by 4:30 AM. Plus, there are always cell phones. It is not uncommon for me to receive a call from “G Money”, as he calls himself, on Sunday night asking to re-schedule a meeting on Monday morning because he has to take his son to the doctors in the morning. It’s impressive, I feel like I can get ahold of Garrett at any time, even when I go days without seeing him.
• Cisco currently pays for my Laptop, Internet and VPN at home so I can work from home. Once I get out into the field, I will have Wireless Internet Access anywhere and of course, my Smart Phone. Plus, I likely won’t even have an office and will be able to work from home J on a regular basis.
  

• Corporate Credit Cards
• We have them and we use them. For example, after the JDRF Walk yesterday, our team went out to lunch to unofficially celebrate my birthday. And of course, we paid the bill with our Cisco American Express card. These types of events are planned in our budget. One of the other teams went out to dinner the other day and spent at least a thousand dollars. Our dinner is next weekend. I’m excited :)

• “The Greatest Job in the World for the Greatest Company in the World”
• There have been a few occasions, where Garrett has said, “You have the greatest job in the world and you work for the greatest company in the world” and I am starting to believe it!! They treat us really well. For example, last Thursday we had a Charity Golf Tournament for JDRF. Gordon, Garrett’s manager, approved the day as a paid day off. So, we all went out and played golf instead of going into the office and were paid for the day. That’s as close as I am ever going to get to being a professional athlete J Don’t get me wrong, they still expect us to get all of our work done, and they sure keep us busy, but they understand the importance of getting out and having a little fun too. Our core values include “giving back”, “having fun”, “work-life balance”, and “hard work” and we really live by them.
• So, what about my position within this company? The attrition rate for Cisco SEs, Systems Engineers, is below 2%. That’s one of the lowest in any profession in any field!! And what about this training program? The average graduate from the Sales Associates Program sells 110% of goal. That’s AVERAGE!! The numbers speak for themselves.

My New Toy :)

So, first of all, I made it through all of college without buying an iPod. I could just never justify spending the little money I had on a complete luxury item like that.

Well, I decided I finally deserve a new toy. "Why?", you ask. Well, here are a few of my recent accomplishments:

Work

• I am now a Cisco Certified Network Associate. I passed my certification exam with a score of 949 out of 1000!!

• I received a score of 4 out of 5, which is "Exceeding Expectations" according to management on my latest two presentations. I spent a lot of time working on these presentations and I was actually pretty impressed with how they turned out. Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty of work to do, but my presentations are night and day after attending the public speaking courses as part of the program. They have made it so I am not even really nervous speaking in front of people anymore. Hell, my manager videotapes EVERYTHING and it doesn't even bother me. In fact, I even like it now :) The best part is we are only 2 months into the program, we still have 1o months to go, so the best is yet to come.

• I got a 96% on my first in-house Cisco Routing Products Exam with only 2 questions wrong out of 50!!

Personal

• When I got out to Raleigh, I was 175 lbs and did not feel like I was in very good shape physically. So, I have been on a new diet for the last 2 months and now I have recently achieved my goal!! I am now at my target weight of 160 lbs. Now all I need is for my new orthopedic to give me the OK on my shoulder so I can start working out again :)

The iPod
So, I told myself I could finally get the iPod nano I have wanted for so long once I passed my CCNA exam. But then, the iPod touch came out and I just couldn't help myself. For those of you who don't know, it is basically an iPhone minus the phone. I have a contract with Verizon for another year so I can't have an iPhone and Cisco will be paying for my phone starting next year, so I figured I might as well splurge and get the touch.

It's pretty cool!! I get WiFi Internet Access, which is dope. And of course, all of the other features of the iPhone: the multitouch display, YouTube, iPod, Videos, Photos, etc. More than anything, the interface and screen are simply to die for. Take a look at one, and you'll fall in love too :)

You can see a video on the touch here:
http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/guidedtour/medium.html

So, here's the best part. I installed the iPod to work in my truck!! And no, I'm not talking about just plugging it in using a cable like most people have. My iPod is actually integrated into my sound system. I have wanted this setup for a long while and it's really exciting to finally have it!! Basically, I connect my iPod to a cable in my glove box and then leave it out of sight. While I am driving, my iPod is being charged and I can listen to it in amazing quality. Also, I can control my iPod directly through my car stereo. I can change playlists, search by song, album, artist, etc, all without every having to whip out my iPod. It's a pretty clean setup. I am excited about it.

You can view a demo of this setup here:
http://www.alpine-usa.com/ETD/fsfs.html

Alright guys, I think that's enough blogging for today. I really should get back to studying anyway. Oh yeah, thanks for the Apple Gift Card for graduation Dubz and Ekta. I used it to help me get my iPod :) And I paid for the rest with the presents the rest of y'all gave me, so thanks everyone!!

So, How's the Weather?

I know all of you out in Cali are curious; "So, how's the weather?", you ask.

Well, when I first got here it was completely ridiculous. I'm talking North Carolina ALL-TIME record highs!! It was 105 degrees with 90 percent humidity, making it feel like 115 during the day. And you can't forget the aforementioned thunder showers:-P One thing is for sure, the evenings sure are nice. Even at 3 o'clock in the morning, it'll be 70 degrees out. It's pretty nuts when the LOW for the day is in the 70s.

Fortunately, after a week or two of those shenanigans, the weather cooled down to what I have been told is normal for this time of year. To be honest with you, since I got back from my trip to California, I feel like I brought the California weather back with me. It'll be in the high 60s in the EARLY morning when I get to work, then it'll be in the 70s for most of the day, peaking in the 80s. It's actually been really nice, almost no humidity at all!! And I can't even remember the last time it rained. It's actually a problem. We are in the middle of a pretty severe drought. The water shortage is at the point that you are not legally allowed to wash your car except for on weekends. Hell, I was out wake boarding on the lake with my manager the other day and the lake was 8-18 ft for the most part. It was ridiculous. It was so shallow the water temp was in the mid 80s. Crazy!!