My View of Mexico
The mainstream media has no doubt helped create impressions and shaped your opinions about Mexico. We often hear about the narcotic wars, street crime, assaults and violence in a country that seems out of control. I make regular trips 1 – 2 times per year to Mexico as a business traveler. I see a side of Mexico that is not reported in the media. I see business professionals, sales and marketing professionals and entrepreneurs going about their daily lives. They are professional, motivated and above all open to new ideas and strategies to help them achieve the success they desire.
This week I am in Mexico City. I am here to attend the Confederacion Mexicana de Ejecutivos de Ventas y Mercadotecnia A.C. (COMEV)mid-year governing board meeting. COMEV is the official affiliate of SMEI in Mexico. At this meeting we will dedicate time to officially launch SMEI’s professional certification programs in Mexico. COMEV has undertaken the task of having all of the SMEI preparatory certification textbooks translated into Spanish. Our members in Mexico are keen to have credentials that validate their worldwide standard of professionalism.
Prior to arriving, I was approached by Oscar Morales with a request for a meeting. Oscar is a resident of Mexico City who works
as a national sales manager for a USA based scientific certification company. Oscar had reached out to me several months ago through Facebook as he searched for sales and marketing career path resources online. Now it was time to develop that online friendship in person.
It was refreshing to meet Oscar and feel his passion for the sales profession. He faces many challenges as he seeks to provide for his wife and two small children as the sole income earner. With 10 years of experience in sales and sales management, he has seen many opportunities open up to him because of his approach to continuing education through reading, research and professional networking. Oscar realizes the need to develop and nurture a network of like-minded professionals in order to achieve successful in his career path.
So, as we concluded our meeting and Oscar thanked me for the career path coaching, I felt like I got more out of the meeting than he did. It raised a big question in my mind. How willing am I become more like Oscar and step outside of my comfort zone to establish relationships that will help me build a real and sustainable network?
Every once in a while we get a glimpse of the ripple effect of our network. This happened during the meeting with Oscar when he mentioned that he had found Colleen Francis and her company Engage Selling through my Facebook network and has invited her to approach his company about doing a sales training program in San Francisco. Colleen is a member of SMEI, based in Ottawa, Canada.
