Etiquette, it is not just for dinner parties anymore…

When I was six years old, my grandparents celebrated their 50^th Wedding Anniversary.  So here was a child who was used to eating nothing but cheeseburgers when dining out placed in a whole new world.  I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of silverware on the table.  There were far too many forks, knives, and spoons for any man, let alone any child to deal with.  Luckily for me, my grandmother was “Old School”, probably because she grew up in the “Old Country”.  She explained what each piece was for, and how to use them.  As a sponge of knowledge that I was quickly developing into, I caught on quickly.  Butter goes from the dish to the butter knife and finally to the plate.  You never use the butter knife to spread butter on your bread “A gentleman does not do that.”  I hope that I have helped with your dinner party etiquette, but I want to look at another form of etiquette, CRM Etiquette.

Most everyone in sales today is familiar with one form of CRM or another.  We pound away at our keyboards daily.  Updating, deleting, managing this software, but there are some of us who do the Cardinal Sin of shared CRM systems… HOARDING ACCOUNTS.

When we are new in a sales organization we go through hundreds, if not thousands, of names in our organization’s database.  We try to see buying, contact, and return trends before contacting a prospect.  You go for the first call, and note it in the system.  Maybe you get to the gate keeper, the voicemail, or even better the prospect themselves, but for the most part, this contact has been left for dead, and you are fighting an uphill battle.  

The battle is not what any of this is about.   It is about moving prospects into your sales’ ledger without actually speaking to them.  Just leaving a voicemail does not give you the right to plant your flag on the customer’s account.  Most voicemails from sales people are deleted shortly after hearing the name of the organization; your name is largely ignored.  It is nothing to take personal, but if you speak with any purchasing agent they will tell you that they get dozens of calls a day from new reps, and they could spend their entire day just listening to the messages.

What I am trying to get at is a fairly simple concept.  You should not consider the contact to be your prospect unless you actually speak to the decision maker.  Just because you have left a dozen voicemails, and know the gate keeper’s life story does not entitle you to the prospect.  Respect yourselves; respect your other sales people.  Please note the date and time that attempted to contact the prospect, but do not just move them automatically into you ledger because you tried.  It is pretty simple and will make for fewer headaches in the future.  You can have too many prospects.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the...

I will give you three guesses what all of this blog is about tonight.. Okay?  Oh, and your first two don't count.

So, one of the big hot shot sales people has left, and you get some new accounts.  You and Mr./Mrs/Ms Hotshot have so little in common that it is like you do not even work for the same company.  Their skills were like "butta", and your skills are like sandpaper (and I am not talking ultra fine either, more like 3 grit sandpaper), or at least it seems that way to your new customers.  How do you fix that?  Can you fix that?  Did you fix your pet?  Well the pet thing has really nothing to do with it, but it is always a good idea.  It is possible to build relations with your new customers, and it is not as hard as you, and they, are making it out to be.

Think about your best customers.  What do you do that they like?  What have you learned from spending time with them?  And the most important thing is... What do they like?

If you remember, when you were given your book of business it was probably a hot mess.  There were customers who hated the company, customers that loved their old salesperson, customers the company gave the "shaft" to, customers who figured that your company was out of business because they had not heard from some one in a little under a decade, and I could go on.  Like Indiana Jones, you must cut your way through the jungle.  There is undergrowth, henchmen, and many other pitfalls along the way, but with your cunning and wit, you will get through it.

Personal Story Time (cue flashback music)
When I was first hired to sell automotive tools, I knew nothing about them.  Well almost nothing, I knew what a wrench, sockets, and a screwdriver were for (screwdrivers are for when you have to go to a noon game after drinking all night).  I struggled with my fast talking car guy style.  I was at an absolute loss.  I could keep one of these guys attention if I was on stage with three strippers (yes I was that bad).  Then I remembered sales was kind of like dating, accept you get paid for it (no I am not going there).  I started to think of how I could get through to these guys.  Bingo! 

Real life again
If there was one thing I learned standing behind a bar for a few years it was this... What do people like to talk about most in the world?  THEMSELVES!!!  So rather than presenting myself, as the cool, new, (clueless) guy, I introduced myself.  Then started asking questions about their business, their interests, their families, themselves.  There it was, I was all of the sudden getting somewhere, and my numbers started to climb.  My research (see a theme here with my posts) led me to gain a better understanding of what they thought.  All of the sudden I became a NASCAR fan.  I hated whatever driver they hated; I was a fan of the same driver they were (research again, that way you do not sound like a schmuck).  This mirroring allowed me to become their favorite salesperson.  I did not have to sell myself out to do this.  I still retained my own personality, skills, and beliefs, but I was all of the sudden just like them.  I was able to turn an almost dead book of business into a success story, just by doing what should come natural to all of us.  We may hate Thai Food, but if the person we like "likes" it.  Then sure as <censored>, we like it too.  Think that scene in Along Came Polly, he couldn't eat spicy food, but he did to get the girl.

So what I am saying in a long, drawn out way is to mirror your customer.  Find out what they like, don't like, find that common ground, be a regular person like they are, and the rest is gravy.  How else could a kid from the Midwest, who talks like someone from South Philly sell $200,000 in screwdrivers to a guy who has never left Alabama?

To Quote Jimmy V.

This is kind of a follow up to the last blog about the interview.  One of two things happens afterwards.  You get the job; everything is great, and in thirty years you retire with a gold watch and a big pension plan.  Or you were one of many who interviewed.  You wait, hoping to get that call.  The problem is the call never comes.  Instead you receive an email.  This is not the kind of email you want to get.  It reads something like this:

                        Dear ---- ,

We interviewed so many highly qualified candidates during our interview process. Many of the candidates were highly qualified for the position, and we had a hard time deciding who we wanted to hire.  After careful review we have decided to proceed with another candidate.

Our staff enjoyed meeting with you, and we wish you nothing bet the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Hiring Manager who just hired someone else.

In all honesty it would just be a lot easier if they just told you, “Hey, this other guy was way better.  Our staff didn’t like you, and why don’t you go pound sand.”  Okay, we both know that they probably did not mean what is quoted above, but it sure as hell feels like it.  Here is the thing, even though you have that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach like your life has just ended it hasn’t.  We have all struggled, unless our father is Donald Trump.  We have to find a way to pick ourselves up and continue.

It is always crushing to not get the job, especially this time of year.  You have bills to pay, Christmas is coming, and that weird squeaking noise from your car is not going to go away.  You have to find a way to fight on.  Sometimes you have to take a job that is “Beneath you”.  If you are fresh out of college or still reeling from losing your “cushy” job, NO ONE is going to hire you anywhere what you think you are worth.  Personally I have been through this, hell for all you know the next person to read this is going through this.  It sucks.

So there you are struggling to get by, making less than half of what you made before.  It is tough.  Your credit cards are maxed out, you’re a month late on a car payment, you have too many payday loans (BTW don’t get payday loans; they are a vicious cycle that are very hard to get out of.  Trust me, I learned this lesson).  Take an inventory of what you have, what you spend, where you go, and what you eat.  This is especially important if you are a single person who lives alone, a single person with a child, or a married person in a single income household.  Let’s look at thing you can cut:

*Cable – Most of the time you’re not home to watch it anyways.

*Dining out - It is a lot cheaper to brown bag it every day.

*Bar Hopping – I love getting cocktails as much as you do, but you spend way too much $$$.

Okay there are three things that can be done easily, and allow you to get by on what you are making if you are not making want you think you deserve.  The next options are a bit more painful.  So like when mom ripped off the Band-Aid, take a deep breath…

*Craigslist – Now you might be thinking that I am talking about selling your body, but they banned that.  No I am talking about selling stuff you do not use, or do not need.  Let’s say for instance, you have a Les Paul Studio Guitar (I only bring this up because I had to do this) you paid a lot of money for it.  You love that guitar, but all you do is look at it.  Maybe it is time to advertise some of that stuff on Craigslist.  Sell it.  Being able to pay your bills is much betterthan having a really cool guitar when you are living on the streets.

*Plato’s Closet – I use Plato’s Closet, because we have them here in St. Louis.  You probably have a ton of clothes that you either do not wear or cannot fit into anymore.  Sell them.  Once again making sure that you are still standing on your feet is much better than being a well dressed homeless person.

*The Rents – Ugh, I could not imagine this one, but if times get so bad may be you should consider this.  Odds are you are paying rent, most young, single, and underpaid are.  Find out what it costs to get out of your lease.  Discuss making arrangements with your landlord to pay your buyout.  Talk to your parents.  Odds are they probably know that you are struggling.  Offer to pay rent, offer to do chores, offer to split the cost of food and etc. with them.  Hey, it is going to kill your social life, but it is better than digging an even deeper hole.

So what I just laid out for you is a worst case scenario.  We all have to learn is this economy, no matter who is in office, that we can lose our jobs tomorrow.  Politicians may tell us that they are “going to fix it”, but as someone who has worked in politics, it will not happen instantly, not in a week, or a month, but over time.

I won’t blow a ton of smoke up your but.  I won’t give you a ton of clichés that you have already heard, but I will leave you with the message of a man that was fight for his life, a man that gave hope to so many.  Good luck out there, keep your head up, your ship is coming in, it is always darkest before the dawn, etc. etc… 

Jim Valvano

Jmmy V's Complete Speech

Blogger's note: I am in no way making a reference that not getting a job is anywhere near battling cancer.

The message here is no matter what don’t give up.  It will happen, and you will get there.

The $25,000 Question, The Answer, and Fashion Tips

We all have to interview for jobs.  At some point in most of your lives we are going to have to interview other people for jobs.  And after that we will probably have to interview for a job at a later point.  Show me someone who likes going on interviews or giving interviews and I will sell you a bridge in Brooklyn, and this bridge is a real money maker, trust me…

There are tons of mistakes that interviewees and interviewers make.  For the most part the interviewer’s mistakes are largely ignored.  Most of us are so excited to get the interview, especially in this economy, that we blabber mouth our way through it.  And that leads to the first mistake:

We have gone on way to many interviews or we have gone through the interview in our head so many times we (insert DUM DUM DUM music here) say what we want the interviewer wants to say.  Some of you laugh, some of you don’t get it, but most of us have done it.  We have to face the fact that we are not perfect, and companies and interviewers also need to face that same fact (swallow your pride America!).  Interviewers want to hear about the real you.  We all have quirks, and we all of rituals.  Don’t be afraid to admit you mistakes, don’t be afraid to admit your quirks (if working naked is your quirk, make sure you are interviewing for a telecommuting job.  I don’t care how good looking you think you are.)  Fess up but don’t admit that you are a slob, you cannot make it work on time, or you have an anger management problem (If you do have anger management problems, please seek help before working in an office, because we all know that dealing with customers, computers, coworkers, email, IT, management, power points, and about a million other things will cause stress in your office life.)  I guess the real way to look at this is like dating.  Be yourself, because just like in dating no matter how good of a front you put up, your real self will appear.  (I’m looking at all of you!)  You will find that if you are who you really are, just like in dating you will be accepted.  Remember there are people out there that like the “Crazies”.  It just has to be the right person…  And now on to the second mistake:

Showing up to the interview unprepared, whether you are hung over, running late, or whatever.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO BE UNPREPARED!!!  (This goes for interviewers too.)  Be there early, smell good (don’t smoke on your way to the interview smokers), look good (If possible overdress!  DO NOT wear a tuxedo though), and have a resume (this really helps when the interviewer does not have a copy of it).  Know about the copy you are interviewing with.  You have Google, use it.  Find out as much as you can about them.  Do not just go to their website!  Remember the blog about Gatekeepers?  I mentioned Jigsaw, use it to your advantage to find out about them.  Also there is another website called Manta.  Manta will give you more of in depth information about the company.  You can find out who their local competitors are, what the SIC code is, and how they compare to similar companies.  Part of being prepared is asking questions.  You have done your research, ask questions about it.  ASK what their mission statement is.  ASK who are their main competitors are (I know you should already know but ask anyway).  ASK questions about what they do, what is their product, and who do they serve (once again you should already know this but sometimes you miss something).  ASK what motivates them to get up everyday and come to work (If they answer money, and for the fact if you answer a motivation question with money, you should be drawn and quartered.  IT IS A BAD ANSWER).    This is a job interview you are selling yourself; you are there to talk about what you do well, what your skills are, and what you will bring to their company.  You are not there to bash your current are past employers.  DO NOT talk about what a jerk your old boss was.  DO NOT talk about how their policies sucked, and how it held you back as a salesperson.  Most important this is a job interview, DO NOT get suckered into a trap and tell your weaknesses.  If you are asked, “What do you think your shortcomings are?”, or anything close to that line of questioning.  Simply reply, “That is a good question.  I need to think about that; can we come back to that question?”  Pretty much stick with that with any of the “DO NOT” questions.  In the end remember they are there to interview you as a possible employee, but at the same time you are there to interview them as a possible employer.  Asking questions is the most important thing you can do.  If you asked the question in the previous interview, ask it again (it is always important to have some new questions too).  And now the final mistake people make when interviewing for a job:

Send a “Thank you” letter or email.  Reaffirm your interest in the position.  Go over what you learned from them (be specific).  Explain how after your interview you believe that your past skills will help you be an important member of their team.  Team, remember team!  YOU ARE NOT Fonzie; YOU ARE NOT a lone wolf; YOU ARE a team player!  If you are not a team player, you should not be interviewing with a position with anyone. 

And in the end it boils down to a few simple things.  Be prepared, without preparation you are a Schmuck (see Yiddish definition, not German).  Ask questions, you are not the only one being interviewed here (I don’t care how many interviews you have been on with this company, not asking questions is a one way ticket back into the job market).  Follow up, show that you are truly interested in the position and the company (when sending a thank you note, do it within 48 hours, the sooner the better).

Next blog: Lessons I learned from Jimmy V

So I am feeling a little under the weather today so...

Time for our first guest blogger!!!  Our guest Blogger is a good friend of mine who I refer to as my "Bar Dad", Dave Deming.  A little background into Dave, he was a retired consultant (I use was, because he has decided that it is time to make a return), father, ex husband, pretty good singer, and an all around good guy.  He has consulted for companies such as AT&T and UPS.  Here is Dave's entry...

faux pas–noun, plural faux pas  /foʊ ˈpɑz; Fr. foʊ ˈpɑ/ Show Spelled

[foh pahz; Fr. foh pah] .

a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct; an embarrassing social blunder or indiscretion.

 

With the Best Intentions - a true incident by Dave Deming

It was early in my career at a major telecommunications firm.  I had gotten along quite famously with my supervisor and, consequently, reaped many benefits due to his high regard for me.  He chose me to handle some of the most important accounts.  He recommended me for quite a few prestigious sales awards.  He was a great supervisor, and I was understandably upset when he announced his departure.  It meant I would be getting a new supervisor.

Would the new supervisor recognize my talents?  Would the new supervisor inure to me the same benefits I had learned to expect?  Would I continue to receive the same choice account assignments?  I knew I would have to get on his good side as soon as I could in order to elevate my status above that of my peers.

At first, I was unsure.  I had learned that he was an ex-warden at a famous Arkansas prison (the one made famous by the movie, “Brubaker” starring Robert Redford).  In fact, I was told he was the warden immediately before the Brubaker character and was forced to resign because of his cruel treatment of prisoners as portrayed in the movie.  I never really learned if this was true, but I believed it at the time.  It was indeed cause for concern.  How would I be treated?  Images of solitary confinement in low level, closet sized rooms as punishment for poor sales or simply his ill regard filled my head.  I was certain I wouldn’t suffer physical torture, but I did consider the possibility of mental “whippings” and psychological beatings with blunt instruments.

But then it appeared good fortune was in my immediate future.  This man, it seemed, was anxious to “win over” his new staff.  He had scheduled a dinner for his new crew and also planned on taking us all to an upcoming ball game.  These were social situations with which I was quite familiar and confident in my ability to perform well.  I felt I could truly shine in such settings and induce a reaction from him that would be more comparable to a favored “prison guard” rather than a hardened, ill behaved prisoner.

His first day as my new supervisor had gone well and I and my colleagues were looking forward to a nice dinner with him and his wife.  That evening, immediately after work, we were all sitting down at a very posh restaurant and I was remembering to be the consummate gentleman.  I waited until all the women in our group were seated and, of course, was last to sit down after his lovely wife was seated.  I complimented her several times on her stunning dress and even gave notice to her stylish purse.  The new boss was smiling.  I felt I may already be “in.”  He ordered drinks for all of us and I waited until she received hers, complete with large pieces of fruit and a multi-colored umbrella, before I took a single sip of my beer.  No guzzling tonight!  Suddenly, the waiter came up to our table and asked for me by name announcing that there was an urgent phone call for me.  I politely excused myself and proceeded out to the main foyer to take the call.  It was my wife.  “Could you pick up a gallon of milk on the way home?” she asked.  “Of course”, I said with hidden irritation.  “And, oh yes,” she said, “We also need some bread, eggs and a package of yeast.”  I asked, “Do I need to make a list?”  She said that I should surely remember those few things.  “I should put them on a list” I thought as I hung up.  Of all the times to be interrupted!

I went immediately back to the group and, sitting down, wondered if, in my relatively short absence, I had missed any opportunities to make a good impression on my new boss.  Looking to make quality conversation, I noticed the boss’s wife routing through her purse, obviously searching for something in the depths of a sack large enough to hold a medium size dog.  “What are you looking for?” I asked.  I heard her answer, “Something to put on my list.”

 Thinking of the phone call I had just received, I said “Well... I’ve got something you can put on your list!”  This could be a good conversation, I was thinking. But as soon as I had finished speaking, my new boss looked at me like a warden looking at a two-time lifer, “I can’t believe you said that, Deming.”

What? I thought.  I froze as I saw his wife pull a tube of lipstick from her purse. I suddenly realized the word “list” could and apparently did sound very much like the word, “lips.”  Oh my God!  What have I done!  I tried desperately to explain myself, but to this day, I’m certain only I understood what I actually said and meant.  I could not un-ring the fatal bell.  I had just made a pornographically obscene “come on” to the warden’s wife!  I was sunk with no chance of resurfacing.  As I finished choking down what food I could still eat, I couldn’t help but notice the winks and smiles I was covertly receiving from his wife.  Well, I guess I did leave a “stand-out” impression with the new boss.

The ball game to which he was bringing the entire group was the very next evening.   A chance for some form of redemption?  I hoped.  I truly hoped.

Actually, the evening progressed rather safely.  There were not enough seats for all of us to sit together and so the boss and his wife sat in a different section to enjoy the ball game. I sat with my peers and listened, red-faced, to their jibes as they recalled the previous evening… over and over again.

My new boss and his wife were newly-weds and, her roots in St. Louis were the primary cause for his relocation from Arkansas.  Despite my recent nightmares about him and, in my dreams, his uncanny resemblance to a tyrannosaurus, she apparently thought of him as quite handsome… a lucky catch.  I approached them during the seventh inning stretch, still hoping I could induce a conversation to show I was not the lewd and rude subordinate that the last evening seemed to indicate.

“Enjoying the game?” I asked.  The wife responded, “Yes, but all of these girls kept approaching my husband… I think they were trying to steal him away!”  Like the “list” of the previous evening, words escaped my “lips” before I had truly considered them.  I said, “Did you have to beat “em” off?”  Of course I was referring to “all the girls” that had approached him.  And, of course, they both thought I meant something completely different.   She smiled at me.  He didn’t.

He was my supervisor for the next six months after which I received a promotion.  I think he may have instigated the promotion, but not for the reasons I had originally intended.  I saw him occasionally after that, though we seldom spoke.  Our work environment was such that I could almost always find a different aisle to walk when I noticed his approach.  I never saw his wife again. 

Adagio for Strings

This blog is not going to have the humor of the previous two.  I promise the next one will return to what I am hoping you are coming to expect from me. 

I am writing this blog about a serious fact that hardly happens in the workplace.  I have been with two companies where this has happened, so I felt the need to write about it...

Monday, November15, 2010, was like any other Monday.  I was stuck in traffic and worried about being late for the weekly sales meeting.  It seems that any time a gnat flies across Interstate 270 in the morning, traffic backs up.  This Monday it was no different.  I made it into the meeting room at 7:44 am.  "Safe again" I thought to myself.  This meeting was short, which is very strange.  I settled in at my desk, and began setting up my calls for the day, checking bids from the week before, and returning emails (one of which was one of my customers bragging about shooting a 79... JERK!)    I rarely pay attention to the paging system in the office, well because I never get paged, but for some reason I heard this one.  My boss was paged, and our receptionist sounded different.  I walked to the kitchen to get my third cup of coffee and my boss sprinted by me.  Leaving the kitchen he did again.  I joked, "What are you doing?  Laps?"  He face was stone cold.  I went back to my desk, and began my calls.

Two hours later, we were all paged to the conference room.  My boss with tears in his eyes told us that the owner of the company had passed away that morning of an apparent heart attack.  Now not only was this man the owner of the company, but he was also my boss's father.  I looked around in the room as members of our accounting team began to have tears stream down their faces.  Dollie, who is the boss of the back of the house, along with being one of the funniest women I have met in my life, began to sob.  A man that I barely knew had passed away.  It was amazing to see how he had touched people in his company lives.

Death is a part of life that we all must deal with.  I remember shortly after being hired, Charlie (my boss), John (the owner), and I talked about my father's passing two years ago.  I tried to explain what it was like to lose someone too soon.  Most believe that all deaths come too soon, but we all have a checkout time at this hotel.  I relayed my emotion, my fear for my mother, and how it affected my work.  To tell you the truth, it took me a month to rebound, maybe longer, but that is when I could regain my flow.

Death is something that we all have to deal with.  I spent the week after my father's death planning a charity auction rather than grieving.  I watched as my boss spent this week focusing only on work.  He, like I did, just ignored his emotion.  The grieving process is something that we all have to go through.  Pushing it off will not only affect us, but those around us.  We need to remember to let life set in.  As much as we think we are robots we really aren't.  Tell the people you work with that you appreciate them, because you are going to spend more time with your colleagues than your family.  In situations like this take time to reflect.  All of those negative things will disappear, and you will only laugh about the good and funny times.

Two links before I go: 
John D. Stenger

Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings

When in the course of human events…

Some of us as children made fun of nerds.  Some of us as children beat up nerds.  Finally, some of us as children were nerds.  I was then and probably forever will be a nerd.  I know that I am a nerd still, because every time I mention Twilight Zone episode, a quote from Star Wars (Do or do not, there is no try), or complain about my fantasy football team, my lovely girlfriend reminds me that I am a nerd.

I can live with my inner nerd, and even more important than that, I can live with my outer nerd too.  Now I know what you’re thinking, “But Kevin, you write a blog on sales, you can’t be a nerd!!”   Well my friends I am one, and to prove that am I am nerd, I am listening to Rush (http://www.rush.com/) while writing this, but today’s blog is not about feeling good about your nerdiness (You should already feel good about that).  It is about dealing with Tech Support, IT, Accounting, and other Dungeons and Dragons playing nerds.*

So you are a sales (wo)man, the top of the GOSH DARN food chain.  Without you, and your hard work these nerds would have anything else to do other than going on internet fantasy dates, watch re-runs of Star Trek, or play with their abacus.  (“Go play with your abacus” is one of my favorite comments to make to accountants.)  First things first, yes, you do bring most of the revenue into the company, but you cannot do it on your own.  Most sales people's math is limited to very few things, figuring profit margin, figuring discounts (which are normally wrong), and figuring out how wrong our paychecks are.

Our Tech Support, IT, and Accounting departments are what keep us rolling.  They make sure that the product that we sell doesn't come back.  They tell us what is wrong with our laptops and cell phones when we can't contact our customers.  Finally they make sure that the product that we sell gets paid for.  You should realize if the company doesn't get paid neither do we, and not getting paid IS A BIG DEAL.

These internal departments are the most important departments in our companies.  They keep it going as I explained above.  You need to find time to get to know them.  I do not know where I would be if the Tech Support and IT departments did think of me as a friend.  I recommend that you start thinking of them as your friends too.

I am not saying that you need to kiss their butts daily, but you do need to acknowledge their existence.  Please remember to say that you.  Remember they do not owe you anything.  If you are not selling you will be replaced with some one else who will, and their lives will go on.  If you have a tech or account that bails you out all the time, because you and I both know that we need someone to bail us out at times, buy them a soda, a candy bar, or god forbid, lunch.  Have lunch with them, ask them about themselves.  You know how to do that, and we all know that we like talking about ourselves, so do they.  Find out something about them, ask the same fact finding questions you would ask a customer and retain that information just like you would with a customer.

They are a valuable resource for you, your customers, and your company.  Make sure you treat them like it, and you will find that your issues, needs, and screw ups will get handled a lot quicker.  So starting Monday, you KNOW what you SHOULD do.

*I played Dungeons and Dragons in middle school.  Go ahead and make fun of me!