This site reached a thousand unique visitors in a month for the first time since it started. Nothing to boast off compared to the zillions of better blogs that enjoy much better numbers. But hey, someone said  "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step".

Thanks to all of you who made this possible.

CNN carries an excellent write up on Vivek Gupta, a sales superstar at IBM. His customer says about him "Sometimes even we are not sure if his name badge says 'Vodafone' or 'IBM.'". Some pointers from Mr.Gupta's success:
 

• Take pains to understand the customer's business as well as he does. Vivek Gupta(VG) knows of a customer issue at the same time that the MD of that company. How many salesmen can say that?
• Understand your own company's products and services well and tailor them to suit the customer. 
  VG invents new combination of products and services by analyzing IBM's vast product stack.
• Go out of the way to understand your customer's pain points.
  VG took the initiative (after getting rejected) to walk the corridors and identify pain areas ending up with a $100 M account.
• Know when to go for the kill and when to back off.
• Be nice to the customer.
  "He looks very polite. He tends to agree with whatever the customer asks. But then he gives what he has to give. That's the trick. It will not appear to the customer that he has not given."
• Enlist your backend folks in proactive discussions on what the customer can use.

We took off for a short break in the hills a while back and the impending long weekend brought back those memories. Here are some pics. No, that's not a bison burger but a venison burger. It's amazing what being in touch with nature can do!

 

Dhirubhai Ambani is argurably one of the greatest business men in history. I chanced on his

"He would often explain that we are all born into an orbit. It is up to us to progress to the next. We could choose to live and die in the orbit that we are born in. But that would be a criminal waste of potential. When we push ourselves into the next orbit, we benefit not only ourselves but everyone connected with us.

Take India's push for development. There was once a time our country's growth rate was just 4 per cent, sarcastically referred to as the "Hindu growth rate." Look at us today, galloping along at a healthy 7-8 per cent.

However, when you change orbits, you will create friction. The good news is that your enemies from your previous orbit will never be able to reach you in your new one. By the time resentment builds up in your new orbit, you should move to the next level. And so on. "

Here's wishing a great independence day to all American readers. It's time we get independence from a). High gas prices b). Lower IT budgets  

Here are some fonts and pictures that you can use if you want to send your clients a custom email greeting.

Found this at Zfacts.com. We all are feeling the pinch, but I can't imagine anyone paying $3.34 in March 1981 driving the gas guzzlers of that day.

Three months into this country, I know little about the candidates or the issues, but one candidate speaks like he is already the President of the United States. Go Obama go!

After failing my test miserably at the first attempt, I managed to pass and after 2 more weeks of running around getting documents I finally have the coveted Ohio driver's license. Here are some of the documentary needs that stumped me:

-You need a physically signed hardcopy of proof of employment. Internet forms are not accepted.
-You need your actual Social security card. Trumpeting your number confidently does not help.
-Ensure that your vision test details are diligently filled out. I had to go back and take the vision test because of a missing entry.

Here's my pig-in-the-sloth happy mugshot for the license while sporting a dapper sportscoat (Kohl's are running a good deal on 100% wool sportscoats -$99 dollars). 


Soon you will be seeing a new best seller on Amazon: "Setting up a home in the US on a desi budget". J/king…