I did not set out to have a career in market research. I actually started out as a marketing and accounting major. I couldn't turn that and ended up graduating with a history degree. So I thought I was maybe gonna be a teacher. I happened to find my way into a custom market research firm called Intico. Just as you know, I was the guy and emptying trash cans and doing whatever they needed me to do. And eventually, I became a salesman. I became a salesman for them, and that's how my market research career was born. I did great in sales, and I managed to get a job in the Gartner group that is still around today. It's a very large organization. One of the largest syndicated research firms focused on IT research. From there, I reached where I am today by the world of online samples that happened pretty simply as well. I got recruited by a company that was actually on the verge of going out of business, Greenfield consulting, and then the world of online research actually started at that time that became the primary goal of the company when they were trying to turn themselves around, and they wanted someone who could speak to it on who was just good at sales and could pick things up quickly. That's where I started my online panel life. And I'm one of the few people that have stuck with it for almost 20 years now. I didn't come into the world thinking I was going to market research. It found me because that was the job that said yes, out of college. And, I liked it. So I didn't have any market research background or anything I just learned as I went along.

When I was brought into the company, like most companies nowadays, you don't get a set territory and you don't get house accounts to start you off. When you're brought into a sales role in market research, it's typically for the book of business that you have. So often before you get into a position such as mine, direct sales to clients, you will typically take on a position as an account manager. I didn't take that step because I kind of got in when it was all starting, but typically you get a job as an account manager. Which are the people, for example, RoWhite who you and call in and say I'm looking for a quote. And then that account manager would get you the quote. And then when you got to the next step, they would bring in the salesperson. So my job itself was to go out and find the accounts. So on day one, I had zero doors a business. By the end of the first year, I had about a 1,000,000 1/2 by the year under the second year, I had to go on a bender this year. I should have three. That's mostly all through organic growth of finding new clients that will be interested in our services and my job is to print, my job is the final say on pricing. And to manage my book of business to a certain level of margin. So you can't have, if you have $1000 study can have $700 of expenses, our house, someone calls you into their office and speaks poorly of you and to you. So my job is just managing my business properly and finding that business, As far as hours go, I would say that this is not the world. My world is not one of 40 hour work weeks. I come in when I need to, and I leave when I need to. So, you know, one day a week, I might leave it for 30. There's a lot of other night. So when you've called me at eight o'clock, you would find me happy to take your call. And you know, I'm there when you as you need me because I also have clients all over the country and all over the world. So if I have to do a call at 5 a.m. in India, I do that. If I need to do one at 9 p.m. in California, I do that. So that's sort of that's the deal. And the motivation is a salesperson is. It's all to make more money and that's where it comes down to. I'm I also, By the way, if it's helpful, our world has gone much to working from home on the sales, Almost all of us don't work in the home office. The Home Office has 200 people there, most project managers, technology, IT programmers. The salespeople are scattered all over the place. I probably travel four business days a month, maybe five. So I'll take two trips a month, try to condense it to the middle of the week, so I don't have to spend too much time away from family on the weekends or Fridays. So I'll travel and go out and visit prospects and clients during the week and maybe two out of the four weeks for 2 to 3 days.

This one doesn't apply to me a whole lot in the world of market research. This is a great question because I know all of my clients that used different platforms and software to do their analysis to crunch the data, to do all the different things that need to be done. I'm on the sales side, so the primary tools that I use are CRM systems. And as far as that goes, if you're in a company that has a system called Salesforce, you're a very lucky person, and you should hold on to that company with all you got. We're using a system that protege called Net Suite, which is much more friendly to the inner workings of a company. And it allows much better reporting and so on for the people who are in charge and management, but not a great sales year-end tool. So that's just two examples of CRM tools. Salesforce is the biggest and the best in the industry. Net suite is one that we use built by Oracle and very good for back end operations