I’ve been to a LOT of Sales Kick Offs. I won’t date myself too much here but let’s just say I’ve been to well over 20 in my sales career at companies ranging from startups to >$10B+ in revenue. What I will say is Extreme Networks and the SKO we were so fortunate to experience, can be described as the perfect GOLDIE LOCKS environment. It was big, it was bold, it was full of the hyped-up passion and excitement that we all come to love and appreciate at a SKO. But what it also provided was a small and intimate feel that had us all be a part of the action. It was warm and cozy and juuuuust right!
Who remembers Bob Gault’s use of the term ‘Capturing Lightning in a Bottle’? Wow, does that ever describe the moment we are in. Breathe it in team! A big bravo to our fearless leader, Bob Gault, for capturing this new category and enabling us to visualize our epic situation.
Not only is networking cool again, but the New Extreme is an amalgamation of incredible known brands, highly talented people, decades of pure innovation, and a powerful fully refreshed E2E networking portfolio that is sure to delight our customers.
Ooooohhh and the customers! 30,000 awesome customers that need our help in this crazy fast paced world where connectivity is paramount and being able to do more, quicker, with fewer resources is critical to success. We are a customer-focused company. Being on the front lines, there is nothing in the entire world I appreciate more than being able to look our customers in the eyes, stand tall, and with the ultimate confidence and authority say “We will not let you fail!” Being able to say that and know without a doubt that the power of the team, the culture of the company, and the dedication to customer satisfaction will rise above any challenges that a specific project will have and ensure we are the enabler for our customers to deliver on THEIR goals efficiently, pragmatically, and with grace, is amazing.
Do you have an interpretation of Lightning in a Bottle? Share it with me please and I will share with you as well.
As I sit here staring at the brilliantly lit bottle, I see this epic moment defined as:
What does THAT look like?
Here’s a visual comparison –I have a 4-year-old that likes to be in charge of walking the dog. When the dog sees a rabbit or another dog or a person or darn near anything moving it goes from 0 MPH to 35 MPH in a neck snapping body jolting moment. Correct, our Woodle is not well trained on a leash but the 4.5-year-old thinks it’s quite a ride!
So that’s exponential growth in awesomeness –> The stock has momentous breakouts, we start to see near double digit market share improvements, instead of being invited to RFPs we are helping our customers to author with necessary requirements for their business, and our competitors’ sales members are banging down our doors — any of this sounding familiar? Hello!
Grab your goody bags, your best narrative, your no brainer business cases, unbelievable teammates and mount up Extreme-ers! Get ready for the ride of your life! We have been gifted with a vision for the future and an executive team executing on our behalf. It is going to take a team effort, owning the responsibility for knowledge acquisition and each and every one of us at Extreme to take a stand for our incredible, customer focused, innovative, collaborative and teaming culture. You ready? Who’s with me?! Let’s do this! Together!
