Jeffery Gitomer and puke

This is probably the least flattering picture I will ever have the opportunity to post in this blog. But Jeffrey Gitomer is using the plastic puke intentionally to remind us that most of what we consider 'normal' in business and sales practice is, well, puke. We need to think with imagination, creativity, and distinction -- and have fun while we are doing our work.

Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer visited Ottawa today with his plastic puke. His message: Most of the standard stuff salespeople do in their work -- and businesses practice in day-to-day life, is, well, puke. Boring, irritating, garbage. Brochures, 'marketing department trash', thoughtless cold calls, "customer satisfaction" and all that standard jargon of business -- including the typical dry recital voice mail messages most of us (including myself) leave is . . puke.

So how does Gitomer do things differently? He markets himself effectively, practically, with visibility and imagination -- and that causes people to call him, and people to pay him for his services.


He came to Ottawa at the behest of a headhunting business seeking to develop its niche within the technology sales sector. Smart move. Set up a not-for-profit organization (The Sales Leadership Initiative) to create networking and business development opportunities, bring in the big name speaker, and ride on the coattails of his publicly recognized name reputation and identification.

I paid for my $179 seat with my Amex card. A query to Gitomer's office for a media interview resulted in his standard truly effective put-off response. He is available, but you will need to pay him $500. Sorry, I don't pay anyone to be interviewed.

So how can you escape from the puke? Build your personal brand with imagination, creativity, publicity, and a great website. Start an e-letter, affiliate yourself with big names (presumably like Gitomer), and fix your voice message to make it distinctive and interesting. Trash your conventional 'mission statement' and make it something you remember and identify with (something I need to think about, now). Create genuine value and give this away -- you'll get it in return multi-fold. Most importantly, have fun doing what you love doing -- you must not be in the work for the money, but the money will arrive if you enjoy your work.

So, with this blog, I have the opportunity to show Gitomer at his best -- with his plastic puke. Do you get the message?