By John King, Business Development Manager, talking about providing technology focused Business Intelligence since he began with Umbrella Managed Systems one year ago.
I’ve been a technology sales leader for twelve months now. One year in. I know this because my LinkedIn profile recently told me this is true. (I also got a lot of messages from some great people.)
Back in January 2017, as I hunted for a place to park in the River Market on my first day, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I may not have known what I was walking into, but I know now that Umbrella is the best technology provider in Kansas City.
As we’ve mentioned numerous times in these blog pages; I’m not a technical person. I am the relational one, the one working to find client’s business pain and drive it back to Umbrella’s technical solutions. One of the first sales meetings I attended with Heath made a lasting impression, that I still hear about almost daily.
The “Western Digital” Expert
Heath and I were visiting a potential client and the conversation shifted from business impact (which I am very comfortable talking about) into the technical. I had a general idea what we were talking about. Heath and the guys from the company we were talking with started throwing out terms like, “BDR, A/V, malware, GPOs” and more.
The only technical thing I thought I knew about at the time was hard drives. I felt I needed to establish my technical prowess, so I just threw out the term “Western Digital!” Now remember, these are technical conversations and we’re the technology experts. I was pretty pleased with myself.
After the meeting, on our drive back to the office, Heath was more reserved than normal. I asked what he thought of the meeting. Heath was complimentary about my ability to connect with people, ask business questions, listen intently, etc. But, one little thing needed attention. In very specific terms, Heath indicated that I’m not the technical authority. The team back at our office are the technologists. I’m the business person, speaking in business terms, about the impact of technology and the Umbrella Way, not about Western Digital Hard drives.
This story gets relayed back to the guys at the office. I don’t think anything of it, but these technical guys had other ideas. Every chance they got, they asked me all sorts of tough, technical questions with the intent of teasing me a little. After all, I’m an expert on Western Digital.
Embarrassing.
Why am I telling you a fairly embarrassing story? A story that made me look bad in front of a potential client and my new boss; the owner of Umbrella? This story is important because it confirms what we are all about at Umbrella. We are team. A team of extremely talented technical engineers working to solve IT problems and create business intelligence for our clients. I don’t need to be technical, because our team has the technical work covered. I can focus on the business intelligence of IT. Most companies want to make their business operate efficiently and are not concerned with their iSCSI or Hypervisor.
Anyone can come into your office and throw out a bunch of jargon and use technical buzz words. Anyone can say they react faster than the other guy. Anyone can say they care more. But a true team of business and technology experts will focus on your business and how the technology impacts you, your team and your bottom line. Without the focus on the business intelligence, we’re just “another IT company”.
We’re a Business Intelligence company that focuses on technology.
As we like to say, it’s the artist or the brush. The brush matters little when compared to the talent of the artist. A worthless brush in the hands of an artist will still create a work of art. An amazing brush in a novice’s hand will create nothing of consequence. Are you ready to create art with Umbrella? Let’s talk about it.
