The Leukemia Cup Regatta – Sailing for a Cure

In June I wrote a post called “A Little Self Serving” about how I was raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my Unlce Jerry who passed away last November from cancer. Instead of the typical marathon or triathlon, this time it was for a regatta.  My team was able to train with the amazing, talented and funny crew over at Club Nautique in Sausalito.  These guys are awesome!  (if you’re thinking of learning to sail, check them out.  Club Nautique has a location in Sausalito and Alameda.) Well, the regatta was this past weekend and I’m happy to say we survived and did well.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma is a nationwide and great organization which helps find a cure for blood related cancer.  One part of their program is Team in Training which trains you for an endurance event (triathlon, marathon, century ride, Ironman, hike, regatta…) in return for you commiting to raise money.  I’ve been part of the program for just over 9 years now and have raised close to $30,000 for the cause.  It’s fun and you can find out more about the LLS and TNT by clicking on these links.

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Team in Training

Below is the letter I sent out this week to my family and friends.

——

This past weekend was the Leukemia Cup Regatta in the San Francisco Bay and what an amazing weekend it was.  Saturday started off with a formal cocktail and dinner reception at the San Francisco Yacht Club and was filled with lots of hoity toity-ness.  But, it was a beautiful setting.  Tom Perkins introduced Al Gore who was the keynote speaker for the night and had everyone in stitches. (Does that give you an idea of the amount of money in the room? I don’t think they would have allowed me in if they saw me drive up in my Honda Civic)

Sunday was the actual regatta with 110 boats racing. With so many boats starting at different times yet all congregating around the start point, it was like 101 at 5:30pm on a weekday. There were a few times when I was sure that a few boats were going to hit each other, but fortunately I didn’t see any collisions.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and having so many boats on the water was picturesque.  The spinnakers of the big boats were out and it was just beautiful.

After racing for 3 ½ hours, getting stuck with absolutely no wind for about 45 minutes on the east side of Angel Island, getting close enough to other boats where a beer could (and was) passed, water coming in and some laugher, our little 25 foot “Swellbound” came in third place for our division. My little crew of the 5 of us did awesome. We were very excited that it was over and that we had done so well.  I finally began to understand why and how sailing could be fun.

As you all know, I wasn’t a fan of sailing this summer.  I’m more the wine and cheese type of sailor or power boats rather than the boat on its side with water coming into it, type of sailor. But, I was able to enjoy myself this weekend and never really got scared and never thought of jumping overboard to swim to shore (that’s a first!).  At one point when the boat was on its side with water coming in, a friend of mine was sure that I was going to be white faced and panicking but I turned to her and said “I think I’m going to end up with a tan line with all my honorees names.”

If it wasn’t for the honorees and the amazing support of you all, I would have quit after the first weekend of sailing.  But, as I wrote on my leg because it was my mantra throughout the summer “Chemo is harder!”

The San Francisco Leukemia Cup Regatta raised more than double any other regatta in the country with a preliminary number of $680,000 raised!!!!! And, you all were $4,000 of that number so thank you!

Thank you all for your continued and continued and continued support of me and my crazy endeavors and for making a difference in the lives of cancer patients.

GO TEAM!

Love,
Maeve

“Things to Think About” for the Reference Professional

#crlp Set realistic expectations with your customers.

“Things to Think About” for the Reference Professional is a weekly blurb to get you thinking. You can find content here on this blog or at Twitter under the hashtag for Customer Reference and Loyalty Professionals #crlp.

Why Running a CRP Isn’t Like Starbucks – and That’s Okay

Go into a Starbucks any day of the week and you’re bound to hear someone order some crazy concoction…a grande no fat, extra hot, double shot, low fat whip, two pump….you get the idea. Starbucks prides itself in giving you the exact coffee you want – no matter if it’s a plain drip with room or a twenty five word description of you coffee.

Running a customer reference program is similar yet can be vastly different from Starbucks. Although in both cases the customer/prospect may make a very specific request, when running a reference program it’s okay to not give 100% what the prospect is looking for. Sounds pretty crazy huh? Here are some reasons:

Set expectations: Let your prospect and/or sales person (whoever comes to you with the request) know that although you will aim to get exactly what they’re looking for, it might not be possible. Many times I’ve received very granular requests – even down to the area code! Seriously. When it gets that granular, I go to my next step…

Find out what’s the most important thing(s): We’d like to give everyone exactly what they want but it might not happen. After you’ve set the expectation, find out what the most important things the prospect is looking for. Maybe it’s the same type of deployment or someone with the same vertical yet the deployment doesn’t matter. Still, it might be the product deployed that’s more important. Find out exactly what’s going to be the deal breaker and work from there.

Get timing: If you have 3 hours to get a very detailed reference, it might not work. However, if you have two weeks, you might have time to get exactly what’s being asked for. The timing of the reference can make all the difference.

I’ve said over and over, running a reference program is about finding the most appropriate customer for each opportunity. That doesn’t mean it’ll always be a 100% match, but you can get close enough that the reference will be a great match.

“Things to Think About” for the Reference Professional

#crlp Smile when you talk to customers – even if it’s over the phone.

“Things to Think About” for the Reference Professional is a weekly blurb to get you thinking. You can find content here on this blog or at Twitter under the hashtag for Customer Reference and Loyalty Professionals #crlp.