Understanding Technical Sales
Recently I attended a Band Spirit night at a local restaurant. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a local business agrees to give a portion of the proceeds from orders during a certain period from those who mention a charity or club. In this case, we were supporting the South Forsyth High School Marching Band in which my son is a freshman Sousaphone player (no, not a Tuba). I had a yummy turkey burger, some pretty good Brussel sprouts and my favorite item on the menu there, a Bourbon and Caramel shake (yes, an actual milkshake with actual Kentucky Bourbon). But this post isn't about food or band, this post is about technical sales. I was speaking to another set of parents there, some folks we have known for a number of years as we have 2 kids in the same grades. The dad asked me what I did and I told him I am a "Software Architect for IBM." He said that sounded interesting and that he wished he'd studied more about computers in school. He then asked me wh