Last week, I made my first trip to Monterrey, Mexico, and I spent the week with Carlos Sarmiento, our Client Executive for this territory. This trip was a real eye opener for me in many ways, both for business and social understanding.
I never realized the number of large U.S. manufacturing operations that are located in Monterrey. Carlos will have his hands full in this region but so far he is doing a fantastic job getting us in front of some of the premier manufacturing companies. During our time in Monterrey, we met with John Deere, Lennox, Nemak, GE Energy, and MD Helicopter, just to name a few. I was worried about the language barrier, since as Carlos will tell you, my Spanish is not the best. Luckily, all but one meeting was conducted in English. For the one exception, let me tell you, I had no clue what was being said. Carlos afterwards did tell me that the meeting went well, but for all I know, they could have been discussing sports or the weather.
After the long days of visiting companies and knocking on many doors, Carlos was excited to show me what Mexico was all about. I have to say this was the first time I was not the one deciding where we were going to eat that night. I was leaving this up to the resident expert of Mexican culture and food. During our first night, Carlos took me to a fancy restaurant named San Carlos, where their specialty was lamb. Of course, the menu was in Spanish, so Carlos had to translate and I decided to order the rack of lamb. I was not expecting what came out. There was just the meat on a plate. This was followed by tortilla shells along with a bowl of homemade salsa. The meal was fantastic and was the first of many great restaurants where everything was served with tortilla shells and eaten with your hands. One of my favorites was a busy “fast food” place named El Pollo Loco, or the Crazy Chicken. Here again they just provided a whole chicken on a plate and brought out tortilla shells with a few types of salsas. No forks… just eat with your hands. Fantastic.
In Monterrey, MX I learned that both the training and food is “hands-on”. I truly feel that our online training will complement the on-the-job training as it does here in the states.
I never realized the number of large U.S. manufacturing operations that are located in Monterrey. Carlos will have his hands full in this region but so far he is doing a fantastic job getting us in front of some of the premier manufacturing companies. During our time in Monterrey, we met with John Deere, Lennox, Nemak, GE Energy, and MD Helicopter, just to name a few. I was worried about the language barrier, since as Carlos will tell you, my Spanish is not the best. Luckily, all but one meeting was conducted in English. For the one exception, let me tell you, I had no clue what was being said. Carlos afterwards did tell me that the meeting went well, but for all I know, they could have been discussing sports or the weather.
After the long days of visiting companies and knocking on many doors, Carlos was excited to show me what Mexico was all about. I have to say this was the first time I was not the one deciding where we were going to eat that night. I was leaving this up to the resident expert of Mexican culture and food. During our first night, Carlos took me to a fancy restaurant named San Carlos, where their specialty was lamb. Of course, the menu was in Spanish, so Carlos had to translate and I decided to order the rack of lamb. I was not expecting what came out. There was just the meat on a plate. This was followed by tortilla shells along with a bowl of homemade salsa. The meal was fantastic and was the first of many great restaurants where everything was served with tortilla shells and eaten with your hands. One of my favorites was a busy “fast food” place named El Pollo Loco, or the Crazy Chicken. Here again they just provided a whole chicken on a plate and brought out tortilla shells with a few types of salsas. No forks… just eat with your hands. Fantastic.
In Monterrey, MX I learned that both the training and food is “hands-on”. I truly feel that our online training will complement the on-the-job training as it does here in the states.
James Vickers
Director Of Sales
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