Lowballed

What an incredibly productive day. Again Im not sure what I got accomplished, but I know I was busy. I didn’t even have time to chat on the internet…well…lets just say not that much time. Im really enjoying having Nader in the office. He is a tough boss, but he’s fair. We both have the same goal in mind, to grow the company. I have a day full of meetings tomorrow, so I guess a lot of the time was spent getting ready for those. In one day I have seven meetings at four different locations from 9a to 10p. They are all really big meetings too. I guess the pressure of being the sales manager is on now. Writing of which, We are conducting second interviews tomorrow for our sales manager position. This time around Im extremely confident that we will hire the right candidate. I already like all three of the candidates we are calling back. No wonder we are having cash flow issues again, we’ve had no production from the sales department (other than myself) for the last 10 months. I have brought in a lot of business over that period of time, but I’d rather my focus be on the long term growth of the company and the production rather than the short term. The good thing is that I have the company running as an efficient operation. So when we do get busy, we’ll be ready for it.

Im told the wedding crush is right after Ramadan. Most brides book at the absolute last minute 1-2 weeks ahead of time. No one likes to get married in the summer…too hot and sticky, so they wait until the fall. So Im preparing/hoping/praying for a crush of business. I think its going to happen. When it does we will be doing well with the cash flow crisis. But if it doesn’t happen…well…lets just hope that sales manager is up to snuff.

I’ve had to deal with some pretty tricky negotiations the past week. I’ve had to be firm. I think this General Manager authority is growing on me. I like making executive decisions. Im getting better at it. I was being lowballed by a potential client whom we need for a service. They over-valued their worth to me in my opinion. I like this client, as a friend a lot, but he has associated himself with an agency that is not representing him well…at least with me, according to my opinion. So this agent, started pontificating, she went on and on for a three minute monologue. At the end she said, what do you think about that? I thought to myself, I have no idea what she just said. She used a lot of words and her emphasis was emphatic, but her meaning was empty. So I sat there silently for a second, I don’t think the others knew what she said either. I thought saying “I have no idea what you just said.” Might sound a bit unprofessional. But it was 3 against 1, and that one was me. So they said, “you’re not going to get a better offer than that.” I calmly responded, “I got an offer better than that one hour ago in an email.” Their jaws hit the floor. I don’t think they anticipated me walking…but that is exactly what I did. Im supposed to call the client in 15 minutes to talk. I want to hash out a deal man to man, without his minions. His minions are trying to protect his interest, but I think they’re doing it the wrong way.

I have an addictive personality. I have mentioned a few times before in the late 90’s, I had an addiction to pornography, which I’m happy to say I’ve overcome. It is incredibly dangerous and easy to get sucked into. My pastor Jim Lewis told me, that statistics show that 70% of the men that attend church each week have viewed pornography within the last three weeks. It’s a problem that the church rarely talks about. That is why Im so vocal about it here and with the people I meet. I wish somebody would have reached out to me, when I needed it. I was just so confused about it, I thought it was a character flaw that I could handle on my own. The truth is, I needed help. Well I finally got it, and I’ve overcome it by the grace of God. But I still have an addictive personality, but Im trying to be addicted to the positive things, like exercise, squash, kayaking, bible reading, work, prayer. Now Im totally addicted to “24” season 4. I can’t get enough of it. I suppose the addiction will end when I complete the series. Through my divorce, I didn’t watch TV. Now I guess im catching up with all the shows on DVD. I take my laptop with me and watch episodes at dinner. Tonight is was Jack Bauer and I eating at Fuddrucker’s. I know the plots are cheesy and predictable…but they draw me in.

As I was driving home, I passed my friend Khalid who was walking towards a restaurant. I kept honking and calling out for him, but he was talking on the phone oblivious to me. So I drove up on the sidewalk (You can park anywhere here in Bahrain, and people do) and ran after him. I had just eaten, but he hadn’t. So I sat with him while he ate. He had been away for three weeks and just returned that morning. It was fun catching up with a friend.