Garth's World

Who’s with me?

Since we launched the company, Fowler has been dreaming about a Jigsaw member conference. I always know when he’s about to start talking about it. Right after his first beer (of the two it takes to get him giddy) on Friday afternoon at the bi-weekly poker table, he gets this mi

schievous twinkle in his eyes and off he goes: “you guys will all know when we’ve made it when we’re at the Texas Hold ‘em tournament portion of the Jigsaw National Sales Event in Vegas, with cigars, brown spirits, $100 buy in, a huge Silver plaque with all the previous winner’s name engraved on it…it’s going to be awesome!” I always listen in a

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mused silence, thinking of how long I will have been traveling on a yacht with my family by the time this actually happens… kind of like most people’s “what if I won the lottery” fantasy. The rest of the Jigsaw employees at the table, mostly developers, just laugh and call the bet, because Fowler can’t wax prolific when he has a good hand.  

Please understand, Jigsaw is successful, but we’re no Salesforce.com, spending 40% (or whatever that figure is) of their revenue on marketing parties.  Particularly when it comes to travel, our frugality is legendary - we go two-to-a-room in Idaho at the only yearly Jigsaw sponsored function - so we’re not about to fork over 6 figures to underwrite a top tier event anytime soon, right? Well, betting fans, lace up your skates, because Hell might have frozen over at Jigsaw. Last week our executive staff decided to let me take a crack at organizing the first annual Jigsaw Nation Sales Event for members, partners and salespeople.

Persistence

A couple of weeks ago Steve Martin invited me to speak to his two classes that he teaches about sales at Haas School of Business (Berkeley).

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On the drive over I realized that I was actually quite nervous. Since  the students have regular access to all sorts of big name CEOs and smarty pants entrepreneurs, I was thinking that I might come off like some snarky sales joker who “stepped in it” with Jigsaw. Plus, I haven’t been anywhere that resembles an academic environment for almost 20 years- my vocabulary has been reduced to hackneyed business expressions, “you knows,” and profanity. Am I a credible presenter of anything interesting to an intellectual audience? Was I going to get yawned off the stage? 

Well, it all went fine. Steve teed me up so I could reel off one story after another, Jigsaw has an investment history and successful history that they understand clearly, the swearing police never showed and sales is a subject that is just now starting to show up in B-school curriculums, so it was very easy to pass off what I consider daily life as a bit of a primer (this blog is living proof).  I

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left with that rejuvenated feeling that all salespeople get when a meeting has gone really well, the “high” that makes you momentarily forget the daily stress caused by your quota, those uncooperative prospects,  your slow motion co-workers, a demanding family and the eternal time deficit that we all run these days. I’m surprised that I didn’t levitate my PT Cruiser (rental, of course) back over the Bay Bridge on big fat head ego fumes alone.