Tech Terrain

I remember wondering in middle school math class why they were teaching us Boolean Algebra. When would we ever use this stuff involving truth tables? Fast forward 25 years, and suddenly I wish I had paid more attention in class. In the good old days, a sales person could keep track of their leads and contacts in a tin box on index cards. At the most, a sales rep sent and received a few letters per week. Phone calls were strictly local; an interstate call required permission from a sales manager. No one called overseas. Face-to-face selling in a territory was the norm. Today, face-to-face contact is rare. Most sales reps sit in a cubicle or at home and communicate with the world through electronic means. Customer contact is done via phone, web conference and, mostly importantly, email . The amount of information sent, received and managed by a sales rep is staggering. In many companies, a sales rep is expected to make 45 calls per day and follow them up with an email.