Tag: Roderick

The Calm Before The Storm – Rodric Leerling

It’s hard to keep mum when you are about to sign off for a challenging and exciting new media sales project. These last days clearly were the calm before the storm. Continue reading “The Calm Before The Storm – Rodric Leerling” →

Getting dressed for the game – Rodric Leerling

The rookie ref I was to mentor last weekend showed up in full gear, shoes in his hand. I was startled. Continue reading “Getting dressed for the game – Rodric Leerling” →

The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 4 – Consumer Research)- Rodric Leerling

Having worked as a freelancer for several years now, one tends to forget how it all started and how my career choice in 2004 has defined where I am today.

MinutePoll, CoolBrands, SuperBrands, TrendBox
Continue reading “The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 4 – Consumer Research)- Rodric Leerling” →

Mentoring a rookie ref again after a year – Rodric Leerling

To my surprise I was assigned to a rookie referee I accompanied at one of her first matches for the Dutch FA, late 2016. She proved to have made big progress.

Continue reading “Mentoring a rookie ref again after a year – Rodric Leerling” →

The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 1 – Crowdsourcing Videos) – Rodric Leerling

Zooppa.com – crowdsourcing advertising videos and graphics.

If there ever was a moment in my sales career I felt an alignment of a business development project with my true pioneering sales qualities, it was with Zooppa.com.

Continue reading “The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 1 – Crowdsourcing Videos) – Rodric Leerling” →

Am I ready to ref again? – Rodric Leerling

It’s December and I’m getting those familiar calls again: invitations to ref indoor Christmas and New Year tournaments. Whether I can help out again? Continue reading “Am I ready to ref again? – Rodric Leerling” →

“Living Billboard” – Rodric Leerling

On my way to a football match last weekend, I passed a huge new digital double sided billboard on the A5. It’s erected along the new road between the notorious Coentunnel (a recently solved bottle neck) and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. From a distance you could see the message, clear and colourful. On the Clear Channel website the outdoor company calls it a “Double Digital” with 160m2 digital surface – available for commercial messages. If I had the money and mass audience as my target, I would sign up today.

It reminded me of the living billboard I met this summer during our holiday on a Dutch lake. The tall guy had a clear voice, greeted everyone his eyes met en walked and talked like a sailor. He had to, as he was the sailschool’s head instructor. Every morning he got his gear organised on time, ready for the kids to assemble on the lake side. Even when you were not taking lessons, he still greeted you and wished you a good morning, afternoon or evening. Always cheerful, friendly and ready to help when someone’s boat was not working.

I was impressed. Living billboards do exist! Colourful, friendly, inviting and with a clear message: join my sailboat lesson, enjoy sailing, come back next year. My girls are still talking about him. After years of hinting a week of sailing lessons and learning this great watersport skill, suddenly they got interested. The free evening activities, using the canoes, peddle boards and sailing boats, worked miracles. They decided they want to come back next year and take lessons. I wrote about this positive experience on their website and gave them high scores on the independent travel site we used to check them out. Advertising works as long as you are using the right tools to reach your target audience!

“A sales guy who never stops” – Rodric Leerling

It doesn’t happens very often, so it really took me by surprise. The lady I had found in my social network looked like the right person to talk to for my social media proposition. She also shared the same nationality and I tried the friendly native language approach, despite her probably English business environment.

Wrong choice, or just the wrong moment? I probably will never know, but she didn’t give me a chance and yelled at me why I called her! Well, that’s a question that can be answered in 30 seconds – the elevator pitch. Before I even could try to explain my reason and asking if she could help me find a better person, she just threw down the phone. So much for an international brand manager!

Ouch, that hurts. Of course, we sales people just start when we hear ‘no’, but I decided this time to leave it and dial another number. Just to get over it quickly and not to take it personal. The next person at the same company listened to me and suggested another colleague to talk to, who proved to be the right person. The door opened and he wanted to hear more.

I might bump into the bad-tempered brand person at my next visit. I will behave like a pro and will just tell her we have been on the phone, briefly, but maybe I should introduce myself properly this time?

Rodric Leerling