An Old Dog-New Tricks

When I started in our company almost 40 years ago it was only my Dad and myself after the secretary left because she did not like me.

Life was simple and straightforward. My Dad taught me the business and as I learned each area he would often put me in charge so he did not have to do it anymore. That included bookkeeping, sales and eventually personnel when we began hiring people. In the sales area the basic thrust was for me to find customers, get business and then get more business. As I said, simple.

Over time I learned how to market what we did, capitalize on our strengths and grow the business. But over the ensuing 40 years I mostly did it myself. Over the last decade we started to hire others who could help with marketing and selling. This includes Paulina Vallejo, head of Ideal Jacobs in Mexico, Igor Gomes, head of Ideal Jacobs in Europe, and of course my daughter Kayla, head of our new West Coast office. 

I had always heard from my Dad that as salesmen get older it is no longer appropriate for them to be out on sales calls on a daily basis. He said it did not look “good” and over time I realized what he meant. Happily our marketing and global sales efforts have now transcended me. I am now focusing on finding new accounts, new pieces of business and helping with global marketing. I am leaving the regular continuous sale calls to our very able people and I travel with them when I am in their areas. It has worked out so well that I decided it was time I had an assistant. I realize that may sound ridiculous considering I am in charge of global sales but some things take time to happen. This includes me accepting that I am indeed getting older and I can no longer work really long hours. I decided that one of our former interns, Alexis Spencer, who is a very capable, strong and pleasant person could handle the job. It turns out that I was right. She has been able to take over a lot of the follow-up I no longer have time to do on a regular basis. For instance, she is in charge of updating our customer lists, more than 10,000 people to see who has changed jobs and companies. This is critical because when someone goes to a new place it is a chance to get a new customer, but it needs to happen reasonably quickly after they change. She also helps with my Social Media, editing my articles and books, productions for YouTube and also liaisons with Kayla for things she needs for marketing and sales. After her job was defined last month I wondered why I had not done this years ago but again, some things take time to internalize and move on. That includes me changing my priorities and realizing where my time is best spent.