Happy Sunday everyone!
And the flights and travel continue!
As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I visited Seattle and Portland over Memorial Day weekend with my family.
2 days later I flew with a colleague to Atlanta to visit the Southern Region Team and meet reps who I hadn’t met in person yet.
2 days later I then flew with a colleague BACK to Atlanta for a training session in North Carolina.
My flight was originally supposed to leave around 10:30 am Sunday morning, June 5th. The airline canceled it and rebooked me but the layover via Minnesota would have put me into Atlanta late.
So I took the 5:30 AM flight direct to Atlanta, grabbed my luggage and rental car and grabbed a hotel for a few hours, napped, and picked up my colleague coming from Michigan and we drove 140 miles north to our destination.
Nisah Tahara, my head of Training, Learning, and Development, and I did a training session with a client over 2 days. I had never met her before but we had spoken countless times via phone and Zoom, and wonderful to meet her.
We drove back to the airport, dropped off the rental car, and parted ways. I enjoyed my time with her as well as the client doing live training. First time since the pandemic. Other sessions had been strictly remote.
3 trips down 1 more to go. I head to Indianapolis, IN tomorrow morning!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
(Pictured is Nisah and I at breakfast!)
Happy Belated Labor Day!
/in General /by Ray RueckerFrom our team to you!
Cheers!
Podcast Interview with CloudTask
/in General, Podcast /by Ray RueckerHappy Thursday everyone!
I recently was interviewed by Amir Reiter of CloudTask. Click here here to listen to the Transform Sales Podcast from CloudTask.
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
(Photo courtesy of Stock.)
Greetings from Oklahoma!
/in General, The Connect 5000 Team /by Ray RueckerHowdy from the Sooner State!
Ron Jaramillo and I left Sunday morning and drove to Chickasha, OK from Kansas City—a 5 or so-hour drive.
We had dinner with the OK team Sunday evening at Saltgrass Steakhouse in Norman and had a wonderful time rubbing elbows for the first time over dinner and drinks.
I had yet to meet Debbie, Morgan, Jordyn, Amy, and Krissa in person.
Monday morning we had a quick huddle up and gathered for some business development training.
Ron and I left mid-morning and returned to KC that evening.
Pictured above is a team training photo taken by me.
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Happy June and Summer!
/in General, The Connect 5000 Team /by Ray RueckerHey everyone!
I just returned from a family vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
My wife and I celebrated our 18-year anniversary with our 13 and 10 year old.
Nice to get away and wonderful to return.
This past Friday, my remote and distributed team from across the country gathered over lunch to catch up, banter, and get to know each other better.
The 3 questions were:
Sufficient to say, many Connect 5000 staff members have road rage! Enough said!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000! Cheers!
BDR Spotlight in March
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy Sunday everyone!
Last Sunday I flew to Atlanta for a baby shower and saw a few of my reps while down there.
Introducing Rachel Woodyard and Ashton Jarrell!
They started around the same time last year, do excellent work for our clients, and are great additions to the team.
Rachel resides in Georgia and Ashton lives in Florida.
After our event, the 3 of us grabbed dinner and caught up!
Cheers Rachel and Ashton!
Marketing Partner Spotlight
/in General, Sales /by Ray RueckerHappy Wednesday everyone!
Last week, I visited with the wonderful Contact Science team in St. Louis.
I live in Kansas City, one of them lives in St. Louis and the other resides in Tennessee.
I’m glad we all drove since the FAA grounded all planes that Wednesday morning.
So we met in the middle and strategized about our 2 companies working together and grabbed dinner and drinks afterward.
They provide a wonderful platform and we provide quality BDR’s.
Contact Science (https://www.contactscience.com/) has a premier sales engagement platform that provides a complete CRM, dialer, reporting, and accountability for tech firms and MSPs. Please check them out.
As I’ve said many times in the past, Zoom is great but meeting in person and spending quality time together is priceless.
Included in the pic is Bob Howard, the CEO of Contact Science, Mel McCaleb, the VP of Operations, and myself.
Happy January!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000. Cheers!
Happy December: Part II
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy Holidays everyone!
Here’s a follow-up video that Addie Kate, my marketing and social media manager, put together of our time training.
Cheers and Blessings!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Happy December!
/in General /by Ray Ruecker“The days are long but the years are short.” – Unknown
How true! 11 months down, 1 remaining in 2022.
Yikes!
I was in the Atlanta metro this past June visiting team members.
I hadn’t met some of the newer members plus I needed to do some in-person training, so I flew out Thursday and returned Friday.
The team and I shared a few meals, huddled in a hotel conference room, and did professional training to grow their team.
There’s no substitute for face-to-face in-person time and Zoom meetings can get old quickly and attention spans wither.
Pictured here from left to right: Frankie Teel, Shamar Slappy, Addie Kate Pruett, Casey Cantrell, and Rachel Woodyard.
I’m excited and proud of the Southeast Team!
PS: Happy birthday Frankie!
Friday Lunch and Yak Session
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy Saturday everyone!
Every now and then, Connect 5000 gathers together via Zoom over lunch and gets to know each other better without talking about work stuff. Because everyone is remote and isolation can occur, it’s beneficial to huddle up and get to know colleagues better, so we did Friday afternoon. It helps build relationships and a stronger culture.
For other remote firms out there, I encourage you to do the same! #team #culture
Thank you Casey Cantrell for facilitating Friday’s session.
I”m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
The Traveling Roadtrip Continues
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy Sunday everyone!
And the flights and travel continue!
As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I visited Seattle and Portland over Memorial Day weekend with my family.
2 days later I flew with a colleague to Atlanta to visit the Southern Region Team and meet reps who I hadn’t met in person yet.
2 days later I then flew with a colleague BACK to Atlanta for a training session in North Carolina.
My flight was originally supposed to leave around 10:30 am Sunday morning, June 5th. The airline canceled it and rebooked me but the layover via Minnesota would have put me into Atlanta late.
So I took the 5:30 AM flight direct to Atlanta, grabbed my luggage and rental car and grabbed a hotel for a few hours, napped, and picked up my colleague coming from Michigan and we drove 140 miles north to our destination.
Nisah Tahara, my head of Training, Learning, and Development, and I did a training session with a client over 2 days. I had never met her before but we had spoken countless times via phone and Zoom, and wonderful to meet her.
We drove back to the airport, dropped off the rental car, and parted ways. I enjoyed my time with her as well as the client doing live training. First time since the pandemic. Other sessions had been strictly remote.
3 trips down 1 more to go. I head to Indianapolis, IN tomorrow morning!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
(Pictured is Nisah and I at breakfast!)