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Meet Rich Bohn!
From successful sales and marketing executive, to information publisher
might seem an unlikely career move; but it seems to be working so far! There
are millions of sales people who have yet to discover exactly how CRM can
improve their lives. This is a tremendous waste of effort. I want to show
sales professionals everywhere precisely how they can take better care of
their customers and Sell More Now through effective use of
CRM!
On Plaxo, you can find me here:
http://richbohn.myplaxo.com/
On MySpace, you can find me here:
http://www.myspace.com/richbohn
On FaceBook, you can find me here: Facebook me!
On Twitter, you can find me here:
http://twitter.com/RichBohn
Where Did This Guy Come From?
I am often asked how I got started at all of this and what I was doing
before I began writing about CRM software. So, first of all, I am a
salesman, with all of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that that includes! I
have held the full range of sales positions, rising through the ranks in a
classical sales career path, including such positions as sales engineer,
regional sales manager,
national sales manager and marketing vice president. All of my experience
was in direct sales of big-ticket, long buy-cycle products with companies
such as Nicolet, Varian and Siegen - a Silicon Valley medical instrument
start-up. Today, my primary interests continue to include marketing and
direct selling in business-to-business markets.
Coincidentally, I started my sales career at the dawn of today's
microcomputer revolution. Recognizing the the potential impact this computer
technology might make in my sales figures; I went out and bought an Apple
II. Thus began my 30 year quest exploring the benefits of sales automation
and CRM! I still remember the time I went into a computer store and
described the information that I wanted to track for my prospects and
customers. After careful consideration, the salesman told me I needed dBASE
II, it would solve all of my problems. So, I bought the program ($495, as I
recall!) and rushed off to revolutionize my sales efforts. Back in the
office, it didn't take me long to realize dBASE would not even run on
my Apple without something called a CP/M card! The friendly computer store
would not even refund my dBASE purchase, they figured I had just copied the
program. Though I then went out and purchased that pesky CP/M card, I never
did get any useful information from dBASE. I did not realize it at the time,
but this was my first clue that there might be a need for someone to help
salespeople find the right software to really help them take better care of
their customers!
Later in my career, I discovered that sales and marketing projects seldom
make it to the top of IT department's priority lists. They are always busy
with projects for accounting or manufacturing. It was as the newly appointed
Vice President of Marketing that I ran into this bureaucratic mess. I had
great plans for my team and many of them called for the kind of detailed
analysis I had recently mastered in graduate business school. After waiting
in vain for several projects, I decided to look for an alternative. So, I
continued to do my own thing in the marketing department. By then, the IBM
PC had been introduced. And, better yet, companies were beginning to develop
programs just for people in sales and marketing. I tried a lot of them. And
even got some great results with a few of them. Somewhere in there I went
through the "our application is unique - we need a custom program" phase,
learning first hand the challenges that exercise can provide. Being an old
Apple guy, when the Mac came out, I went out and bought one of those to
learn what neat capabilities the Mac might provide. In a relatively short
period of time, I gained a lot of experience with this exciting new
technology.
Tiring of corporate bureaucracy, launching my own company seemed the next
logical step. I had been thinking of going into business on my own for quite
some time. After some thorough marketing research and a lot of soul
searching, I decided to see if I could earn a living from my keen interest
in the use of computer technology in sales. The Denali Group was
incorporated on August 3, 1984. Our first product, the newsletter
Computer Aided Selling, was launched in January 1985. That newsletter
went on to become the longest running independent voice providing software
reviews, analysis and commentary on all facets of sales automation and
customer relationship management. When I thought back to the various
positions I held, the most personally (and financially!) rewarding was
Regional Sales Manager. Working one-on-one with sales pros who were really
trying to excel was not only rewarding, it was a lot of fun! If you think
about it, that's what I'm doing now, helping sales pros throughout the world
use computer technology to excel in sales!
Realizing that some sales people prefer their advice in bite-size portions,
we began offering a series of special reports focused on different sales
automation problems. We no longer publish the newsletter (rechristened in
January-1992 as Sales Automation Success) on paper. Instead, we publish the
same stories, and lots more, for free on this web site. Our In-Depth Reviews
of leading sales automation programs are available individually. Our first
book, The Sales Automation Software Compendium, was published in
1995. 2007 will see us launch a new series of books, Sell More Now
with ...
Over the years, I have written software reviews for many other publications.
I was the Review Editor for Sales Process Engineering & Automation
Review where I was honored to receive the Sales Automation
Association's award for Excellence in Journalism. I was also a
Contributing Writer, focusing on reviews, for Sales & Field Force
Automation, now known as CRM Magazine. My no-nonsense reviews
have helped literally thousands of sales pros make more informed CRM
decisions!
I am not shy about beating my head against new software products. I earned a
BS degree in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois,
providing the technical background required to deal with today's
sophisticated technologies. A graduate degree in management (Northwestern
University-Kellogg Graduate School of Management) balances this
technical perspective with a sensitivity to real-world business problems. My
old marketing professor, Philip Kotler has said it only takes a day to learn
marketing, but a lifetime to master it! I have become a lifetime student of
sales and marketing. I continue my dual quest, studying the latest
techniques in sales and marketing, as well as, the ever expanding list of
new technologies. Through my writings, I try to share some of this knowledge
with you. There are over 20 million people employed in sales in the U.S. I
continue to cling to enough 60's idealism to think that some of my writing
and analysis might just help some of you achieve greater success in sales!
When people read any of my stuff or talk to me on the phone, they know that
I'm a salesman first - closet computer nerd, second. I know sales can be
tough and frustrating enough without adding another layer of complexity. My
simple goal has always been to just help you get off to a great start with
CRM. If I succeed at this, I know you will take better care of your
customers and Sell More Now! So, stay in touch!
Where the hell is Burley?
As Jean and I have gotten older we both felt it would be nicer to have a
little more family around. We are both tired of the Seattle traffic and
weather too! Luckily, thanks to the internet, I can operate this business
from just about anywhere. So, after nearly 20 years in Issaquah, we decided
to move to Burley, Idaho - Jean's childhood home. This required me to form a
new Idaho corporation, Sell More Now Inc. So, The Denali Group is no more.
You may notice a few other small changes, like a new mailing list program,
each designed to improve our service to you. So, thanks for your patience as
we work through this move.
There are more CRM programs to choose from than there have ever been. So, if
you are still putting off your CRM purchase decision, it's time to get with
the program!
For more about Burley, click here:
Burley
Rich's Recommended Web Sites
Academic Roots
University of Illinois
Main Campus Home Page:
http://www.uiuc.edu/
The Electrical Engineering Department:
http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/
Fighting Illini Sports:
http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/
Northwestern University
Main Campus Home Page:
http://www.nwu.edu/
The Kellogg Graduate School of Management:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/
Wildcat Sports:
http://nusports.collegesports.com/index-main.html
Political Thought
This is where I would start any quest for the truth!
RushLimbaugh.com
The American Thinker
The American Thinker is devoted to the thoughtful
exploration of issues of importance to Americans. Contributors are
accomplished in fields beyond journalism, and animated to write for the
general public out of concern for the complex and morally significant
questions on the national agenda.
http://www.americanthinker.com/
Mullings by Rich Galen
Rich Galen has been described as "what you get when you
cross a political hack with a philosopher."
Rich did a tour of duty in Iraq where he went at the request of the White
House. The assignment - which was to have lasted about eight weeks,
stretched into six months. While there, he was responsible for bringing the
message of the positive aspects of what the coalition was doing in Iraq back
to Middle America.
http://www.mullings.com/
See also:
Leisure Time
My Teams
A Little Time Off!
Minor Vices
For a great selection and good prices, see also:
http://www.jrcigars.com/
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