Ed Brill

A little sweet competition...

A couple of weeks ago, I had a fascinating customer meeting.  The topics were wide-ranging...and given that I'm pretty sure some of the people at that meeting are reading here, I don't want to divulge any of the business side of the conversation.
Something said during the meeting really surprised me, though.  There's no better way to get my attention than to appeal to my competitive nature -- I know, I know, that is a huge surprise to those of you who have been reading this site for more than ten minutes.  
Well, in this meeting, someone brought up the fact that the Lotus team isn't as "visible" at their location as their Microsoft team.  They said, "Microsoft brings us Krispy Kreme donuts every Tuesday!"  This was said with a straight face, as a real point favoring MS's relationship with the customer.
I pointed out that Lotus is part of IBM, and that I'm sure that IBM is as visible and helpful in their organization.  Eventually, someone agreed with me there.  Still, I have been thinking about this whole Krispy Kreme bit ever since the meeting.  I mean, I know the way to enhanced IT productivity is often through the stomach, but it just hasn't been a competitive pressure point until now.
In the end, rather than get mad, I decided it was time for a little sweet competition.  I asked a friend to help brainstorm -- John, we're going to make a sales guy out of you, yet.  At first, I was looking for a way to send Krispy Kremes in some way... but that doesn't really work (for those who have never had them -- they're really good when hot and fresh, otherwise, they're just donuts).  John suggested that we go with the Chicago hometown favorite -- Eli's Cheesecake.  What could be more enticing than a little cheesecake sampler for a hungry IT department?
Those cheesecakes are supposed to arrive at the customer site later today (Wednesday the 1st).  I know that at least one person at this customer location reads the blog -- so guys, I hope you enjoy those cheesecakes...they are going to both relevant SoCal sites.
Please let me -- and my readers -- know what you think of Chicago's finest cheesecake. :)