Random Thoughts between Calls

Yesterday I tried to inform a person of the Tick-the-Code Inspection training, who had had the training already. A year ago he had been as external subcontractor in an internal training I had given in Helsinki. He was still working with the same subcontractor company, but his tasks had changed somewhat. It was a nice coincidence, which might start happening more once the method really starts spreading.

I've started opening eyes for next year. I'm sending emails and calling contact persons to let them know that a thing called Tick-the-Code Inspection exists, and you can buy it and it will help your software quality improve and makes your programming staff better at the same time. As such, much more publicity is needed. I definitely need to finish my book, get it published and make sure it sells a lot. A few articles in the right magazines and websites wouldn't hurt, either. And I have to start using my networks on OpenBC (soon to become XING) and LinkedIn.

Breaking into the Canadian software market seems difficult. Maybe it is just different from the way things are done in Finland. Our plan is to try and get some companies interested in the Toronto and Vancouver regions, so much so that it pays off for us to travel there. It remains to be seen if we can manage to realise this plan. The first thing is to have a plan, and then act accordingly. Although it seems terribly daunting and difficult at the moment, because of the language, the culture, the distance and the time difference, I'm giving it a shot.

I'm after the big companies, but truly getting a company-wide ok, is probably impossible. In order to make the ultimate change, the revolution of software quality, that's exactly what is needed. I cannot do it alone, but by then I will have a legion of licensed and qualified instructors helping me. For now getting people aware little by little of Tick-the-Code is the main thing. Spread the word if you can. It benefits everybody: me for I can then buy my bread; the companies, whose revenues go up with their quality; the people in the companies, who get better at what they do and get to work in better-running companies; and you because the companies will produce better-quality products, which you might one day use. Everybody wins.

It's time to make another phone call.

..., one phone call, and an email and 18 minutes later...

And another.

...about 9 minutes pass...

Mostly these calls lead to rescheduling of calls. Like this one. Moving to a new office is bound to cause some turbulence. One whole day is too short a time for most to read a lengthy email from an unknown party (me). I make my calls two days after I've sent an email with information about Tick-the-Code. My idea, well-intended, is to give the recipients a chance to read about my offer beforehand to be able to reject or show interest in it when I call. I call in order to show that I mean business. I intend to ask them for their opinion, for which they need information, which I've hopefully sent them.

I know I am offering something useful, something practical, all they would have to do is seize the opportunity. But how can you know a genuine opportunity from a fake one? What if this guy, too, will let us down? What if his training doesn't solve all our problems like he promises? It has happened so many times before. We've learned to be careful.

Getting through that shield of distrust is difficult over the phone. If I could meet these people, most would find me likeable and knowledgeable, I think. That's why one feedback simply said "Nice guy." It didn't say "Wiseguy", luckily.

I like to think that this hard work of digging out the right kinds of software companies, contacting them, re-contacting them and making sure they have enough information to make an informed decision, giving them time to think and making sure they use some time for thinking, not just for other things and then say "No", all that hard work is what I will possibly be paid for. They will hopefully be paying directly for the training I deliver, but for me that's just the visible, the simple part. The real work, the real nasty and hard labor happens during selling.

Time to call a CEO. My guess is that he won't answer and I'll have to leave a voicemail.

...3 minutes later...

Although I went through the switchboard, I ended up in voicemail and rescheduled. He now knows my email will be followed up personally and that he has one more day to read it. I hope he finds the time to do it. It was Henry Ford who said that he'd "check each and every opportunity, for anyone of them might be the opportunity of a lifetime."

I did some cruch-ups and back-ups(?) to keep my stomach muscles and back muscles in check. All this sitting is killing me.
Virpi has waken up. She was up half the night doing some elf-things (suomeksi: tonttuili) and it shows in the morning.

I just went into another voicemail. Without leaving a message, I'll call back again in five minutes. I allow for slight tardiness (how gracious of me). Maybe the person at the other end just needs a few more minutes. I have twenty minutes reserved for each call, and normally I only need 5-15 minutes, so I can try again in five minutes without upsetting my schedule. If I don't reach a person on the second ring, I'll leave a voicemail rescheduling for tomorrow.

Five minutes is up, I'll start ringing. My bet is on the voicemail again.

...6 minutes later...

No, this time I got a clear rejection. The reason was that there is no problem in quality at the moment. It might seem logical enough a reason, but if you think about it, it isn't. If you always wait until there is a problem before you do something, you'll pay heavily to fix it. If you don't take your car for inspection (!) regularly, it will break and cost a lot. Why wait until you have a problem? Improve your quality skills every now and then and avoid problems and crises altogether!

Two more calls before I break for lunch. Then I have seven rescheduled calls to make and then we go shopping.

The next guy I'm calling might be a sales person who doesn't understand much about coding and software development. I've tried to contact the CEO for ages, but he never picks up, with or without caller id, with ot without reservation email, so I'm trying this person. My goal is to get the right quality contact, who understands technical aspects and importance of quality, too.

...7 minutes later...

Another rejection, and a suggestion to contact the unreachable CEO. He also hinted that the fact the CEO isn't answering might correlate with his feelings of need for the training. It might well be but I'd like to hear him say that.

One more call and it's break time. I hope I'm not interfering with people's lunchtime already. There's a one hour time difference between Finland and Germany, you know. It might be 10:35 here, but in Finland it is lunchtime for some.

Virpi just send me an aforism: "Miracles do happen every now and then, but, boy, you sure have to work hard for them." Fits.

...Call and rescheduling agreed in less than four minutes...

Time for a break. According to Skype records I've made today 11 phone calls spending €2,31.