Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

       When I see or speak with anybody lately, especially customers I have called on for years, I get the same question, "So how is it going?". To some, my answer has been with a laugh, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!". When you start a new job, there is always a transition period. For me, it is mostly learning how to do the day to day things at Lawn & Golf, like knowing how quotes are done and expenses. In the end, sales is sales. You visit customers and discuss their challenges, and hopefully, you have a product or a service that makes sense to help resolve it. Sure, product knowledge is still a work in progress, but that comes with time and working with people who know more than you.
      The plans for the future at Lawn & Golf are exciting as we learned in a company wide meeting this past week and I am glad to be a part of . As a few people have said to me, " you are back to your old self. You can even hear it in your voice." It is good feeling to get up in the morning and look forward to going to work. You might say it is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!




WJC

History Repeating Itself

       The advantage of experience is it gives you a very clear perspective on how things change. This past week, we hosted an educational event with our partners from Turflux. While GPS technology will be talked about more and more as the turf industry continues to evolve, the reality is that to me it is eerily similar to the transition to the Raven controller from a manual sprayer. On the sales end, we spent a bunch of time trying to be comfortable with how the Raven worked. For many customers, the thought of  letting a computer be in charge of chemical applications on their turf was unthinkable. Currently, if you were to sell a manual sprayer without any computer system, it is almost unheard of in our area. I truly believe that in the next 5-10 years, GPS spraying will be the same. The reactions to technology challenges are not seen the same as they were. I know for me, I am on about my 5th smart phone, with the last few phones meltdowns catastrophic for the phone, but not my information. With all the advantages that come with GPS technology and the bugs having been worked out on the Ag side, I think we are at the start of a new phase in turf management.



WJC

Confessions of a Paperwork Hoarder

      I believe I can trace it back to an incident at college, where a note from the Registrar's office that I had held onto, saved me from having to take one extra class and I was able to graduate on schedule. This past week, I spent time clearing out my office of all of my old paper work. It was long over due! I have always been one to keep things, just in case I needed the information (OK, I am a hoarder!). From the first Toro Selling System book from the 90's, to an old Milorganite sales binder, there was way too many things that needed to be tossed long ago.
       I admit it felt pretty good loading up the back of my pick up to head to a local club's dumpster to get rid of it. It is especially refreshing with the change in jobs, that I have the chance to start fresh on how to arrange my office. It is funny to see how many things had been in paper form, mainly copies of old call reports. Now with the world of "paperless" offices, it is nowhere near the report generation that was done in the past.
       When you add in the handing off of my prize closet full of hats and other promotional stuff and giving my old Toro wardrobe to former co-workers, it was a cleansing holiday season!

      My name is Bill and I am a hoarder.....on the road to recovery!


Happy New Year!

WJC