They call it “The Best of the Best: The Hive Five Winners“.

Here is a brief look at each one:

Basecamp
Project management made easy. I know there are many solutions out there, and believe me, I have sampled most of them, Basecamp is extremely user-friendly, and offers to-do lists, file sharing, time tracking, scheduling milestones and if you are a programmer it allows you to build add-ons or hook Basecamp into your own programs.

Highrise
Keep track of your contacts, share address books, track and complete tasks, keep contact history and keep detailed cases related to contacts. This is great for salespeople because it is a web-based project collaboration tool it can be utilized anywhere.

Backpack
This intranet solution offers page creation, quick information sharing, group calendars, centralized discussions and much more.

The video from the event is online. I recorded another one if you’d like to get the highlights or see the screens a bit better than the Commerce Lexington video.

Since I did not give away the Microsoft goodies at the event, the first three people to contact me will receive them. Its Vista Ultimate and two XBox games. One for each of you.

The session went very well and feedback was good. If you’d like a private session for you or your organization, please let me know. The presentation and one on one time is very valuable if its isolated to just one organization.

Outlook can be tricky so I am posting the list of Outlook 2007 Training topics (PDF) again today for reference.

I think it’s a pretty neat service. People will be able to build their own start pages if they "widgetized" RSS feeds from different locations.

John, the Consultant: Let’s talk about it.

…time passes…

John: Before we begin the project, I’d like you to do something for me. (John hands over an envelope and a piece of paper.)

Client: Umm…what is it?

John: I’d like you to write down the name of one person who you think I should work with…

Client: But, John, we’ve never worked together before.

John: Hang on, I haven’t told you what we’re going to do with this yet. Before choosing the name, think of the risk it represents to you if you recommend me and I fail. Then, write the name down.

Client: I don’t understand.

John: I want to provide such a high level of service to you that you’d recommend me to the one person you cannot afford to fail.

Client: And what are we going to do with the envelope?

John: You keep it in a safe place. When we meet to review our relationship and projects, bring it. I know we’ll have multiple projects and multiple reviews. Put it on the table in front of us when we meet. I’ll ask if you are ready for me to call on that person. If you are, I’m doing fine by you. If not, I know I need to improve. I may never open the envelope, but I want you to know I always can.

If this were a real meeting between you and your clients, would it change anything?

Now that we’ve addressed the basics of the buying-selling process, let’s get down to working on the business case for this project. Your foresight in requesting that sales people work on business issues and not spend time spouting buzzwords will save us both time.

This flowchart (download the PDF (58.2K)) will help us get started. The document details the process I would like us to use when evaluating a sales opportunity. It starts with the definition of a business problem, issue, or result you’d like to achieve.

We want to get real about the business case. Pretend we’re old friends, close relatives, whatever it takes to quickly determine that if I can solve your business problem in the time, people, and budget ranges you determine, we’ll move forward together.

This doesn’t mean you are going to write a check today. What it does mean is that we agree there is a problem and we want to solve it together.

We’ll follow the flowchart and work through it together to make sure we on the same page at all times. I need to meet all the decision makers and interview them so I can make sure I know everyone’s expectations for the project.

By the time you and I review a proposal, the deal should already be done. A proposal should contain no surprises for you and only be used to link our agreement to our signatures and help anyone on our team understand the reasons for the project and the projected outcome.

After the deal is complete, I agree to provide excellent service if you agree to centralize support requests and provide detail about any problems with the products/services. Only with this detail can my team help you.

If we find problems in our products/services at another client, we will notify you if it could affect you.

I would like to know at least three other businesses who you believe should work with us. A recommendation from you directly to them is the best way to help me. It keeps my firm in business and you gain some leverage as a preferred client.

One of the elements you requested to be able to do is get someone on the phone who knows what he/she is talking about. I will let you know now that I did not engineer the product, but I can get to the people who did. And I will if we need to.

Another element you requested is that I acknowledge and take responsibility for any faults in our products or services. I will do so if you provide ideas on how to make my product/service better and pay your invoices on time. Making our products/services better is good for both of us.

If you have other ideas about our relationship, please let me know.

Thank you,

Your Sales Person

This presentation (in PowerPoint) is wonderful. It was used in a school board presentation.

The ideas were brought together from numerous data sources. After you see them, you may think about the future for at least a few minutes.

Om and BlackBerries — he’s right on the money.

BlackBerries are the best. I’ve tried Windows/Microsoft solutions and they are OK, but no one beats RIM.

If you’ve ever dealt with someone who is very angry, its worth the read. If you haven’t, e-mail me and tell me your strategy…