Originally published in the Capitol Lighting newsletter

Spring is in the air….…the Giants winning the Super Bowl is clearly in our review mirror, (yes, even for you folks in NJ) and baseball’s Opening Day is upon us.

Every spring, without fail, baseball’s best players gather together

to get back to the basics and attend spring training,

if the best in the world realize they need practice then why

shouldn’t  top sales professionals and rookies in the sales world, do the same?

Sales people sometimes lose sight of the benefits of periodic, mandatory training, and the benefits that continual education can have on their sales results. Just like the pros, it is important to remember to start with the basics and build your skills through practice and ingenuity.

This past month, Capitol created a new and innovative training program called Bright Start.

The Bright Satrt internship program offered new applicants a chance to learn  valuable skills in retail sales, with a focus on the lighting /home furnishings industry.

The four-week program provided 7 participants, real-world training and experiences, delivered classroom style in our Royal Palm location, and in the end, these 7 folks have now been placed throughout the Florida locations. Big round of applause to Renee for doing an outstanding job as the Master Facilitator.

I had the incredible pleasure of training these folks on various sales related functions throughout the 4 week program and had the time of my life.

More specifically, by being involved with these eager and attentive folks, it reminded me of the benefits of basic training and that by being the trainer,I was being trained.

I invite each of you to review the Bright Start program and get back to basics.

Being There is a 1979 comedy-drama film featuring Peter Sellers as a middle-aged man who lives in the townhouse of an old, wealthy man in Washington D.C.

He seems simple-minded and has lived there his whole life tending the garden. Other than gardening, his knowledge is derived entirely from what he sees on television.

When his benefactor dies, Chance is forced to leave and discovers the outside world for the first time.
“IT’S A WHOLE NEWWORLD OUT THERE….sound familiar?

Chance’s simplistic utterances about gardens are interpreted as statements about business and the state of the economy.

See it is very simple.
Well, one of my favorite lines in the movie is:

“Life is a state of mind.”

Wow, simple-minded yet so true!
Lets all go there now and never leave.
We can live our live’s from that mindset.
We can predicate our behavior on that reality, not the illusions that now surround us.

Filter every thought, question, and answer from there.

Let your focus shift and be there!
Dwelling from, not upon, the space you want to inherit is the fastest way to change absolutely everything.

Change is among us folks!

See the difference?

Steve

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Alter Surety Group, Inc. is a well recognized local contract surety “only” agency devoted to the needs of Contractors.  Specializing in the Construction Industry, our contract surety expertise ranges from the smallest to the largest contractors.  With our roots going back to 1991, we are skilled in evaluating a contractors needs and establishing strategic solutions to accommodate each Contractor’s business objectives.

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It is amazing what creative minds can do!

Well let’s just say he is a guy with great passion for his job and life. He is one of the top team players, helping to make On The Ball what it is today.

David was born and raised in Tampa, FL and he attended college at Florida State, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing. He moved to South Florida in 1987.

David went on to work in the cable industry with Comcast Cable, first as a Marketing Manager eventually moving up to becoming the Vice President of Marketing in South Florida. He moved to Washington DC in 2007 and spent 2 years there working for Comcast as their Vice President of Sales and Marketing in the DC region.

David previously met Steve Nudelberg, Principal Thinker with On The Ball back in 2003. At the time, Comcast hired On The Ball to enhance their brand in a competitive telecom environment. On The Ball and Comcast had numerous success stories leveraging the launch of new products – DVR, On Demand, High Speed Internet and Digital Voice.

When David returned to South Florida from DC in 2009, he got settled in and started working at On The Ball. These days he has the chance to enjoy being able to do what he loves most, watching college football and playing Golf 5 to 6 times a month!

Besides Golf, David enjoys rocking out to Adult Alternative music while driving in his Lexus GS 350. He presently resides in Parkland, FL with his wife Ellen.