Frank’s Chat with Santa Everyone is busy this time of year, but Santa and his North Pole Industries team feel the most pressure. I knew Mr. Claus would be very busy, but I needed to talk to him. Using the “Dialing for Dollars” process outlined in my latest book, The New Sales Guy Project, I decided to make a call.  I only had North Pole Industries' address – no phone number and no email.  Oh well, time to practice what I preach on getting hold of people.  I jumped over to Google and searched for a direct number for Santa Claus.  My search results were many, so I tightened up the search by adding “Santa Claus” and “phone number”.  Hidden in the first three results was a mention of his number (605-313-4000 don’t believe me give it a ring).  Entering the number, I ended up with, you guessed it, voice mail.  I left this message:   “Santa this is Frank Hurtte of River Heights Consulting.  You probably remember that we spoke briefly about th...

Kris Kringle, the jolliest boss of the North Pole, called a rare emergency meeting with his top elves. Why rare? Because the man believes in delegation and hot cocoa, not micromanagement. Yet, here we were: garland-lined gloom, cookie plates untouched, and Kris madder than a wet reindeer. The crisis? Supply chain chaos. Machines broken, parts delayed, sugar plums tasting suspiciously like spinach—classic holiday mayhem. And at the center of it all? A new procurement elf, Elf Pricedrop, whose cost-cutting suppliers had efficiency levels rivaling a hibernating polar bear. As Kris laid out the grim situation—Christmas potentially canceled—Elf Pricedrop took the floor, adjusting his fancy tie like he was about to drop some revolutionary wisdom. Instead, he dropped excuses. "We’ve saved money!” he cried. But the other elves weren’t buying it. Elf Evergreen, head of toy production, fired back: “We have machines down and parts are MIA. Your suppliers couldn’t deliver a sled in a snowstor...

In early December, I was in Fort Worth Texas for a Distributor Advisory Council meeting.  My early flight landed me in town about six hours ahead of the meeting time.  Waiting for early check-in, I relaxed at the hotel cafe, while sipping coffee, checking emails, and prepping for my meeting.  I grew restless after about an hour as the sights of downtown Fort Worth beckoned me.  As I walked, I was drawn to the brass plaques and historical motif pictures near my art deco-style hotel.  The weather was a beautiful 60 degrees and there was an astonishing number of others out enjoying the day, so “people watching” was the order of the day. I approached a lovely square with a giant decorated Christmas tree.  The area was abuzz with folks making their way to the shops and offices dotting each of the streets coming into the area.  It was an interesting cityscape. Glancing down one of these side streets, something caught my attention.  Off in the distance,...

December is always a busy month here at River Heights Consulting.  Distributors are making their plans for the next year and that causes the phone to ring.  Compensation plans are being adjusted.  New hires evaluated.  All this and, it is the season for simply catching up with our friends and family and making trips to the mall with the Missus (sometimes referred to as – She who must be obeyed).   Regardless of all my activities, my version of busy pales in comparison to the hectic activities up north at Claus International.  Generally, I received some type of communication from my old pal Santa long before the Big Day; phone call, text, email, or even something by way of the red-striped envelope with the North Pole return.    This year was different.  I received this text message just four days before Christmas:   SC at NP:  Frankie Boy, not ignoring all your messages.  Things got kind of hectic ...

Winter had just spread its frosty mitt across Iowa.  For the first time since late February, the thermometer was pointing to the low teens, the winds howled with the force of the Polar Jetstream, and the cold bit through my clothes as I stumbled into my office.  It was late into the evening as I sat down at my desk to review some client projections for 2022 and add comments to their business plan.  I was nose down to the computer when I was startled by a bang and a crash coming from the roof of the office.  A word of explanation, the River Heights Consulting office is an 1871 house located at the top of one of the high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in Davenport Iowa.   150-year-old construction is known to creak and sometimes break.  I jumped up looked out the back door to see if house parts were laying on the ground.  There was nothing evident, so I resumed my work.  Seconds later,  I heard an expected, perhaps even autho...