FROM AN LTEN COMMITTEE – Mark Butsavage
LTEN Ambassadors help new members start out right
Ambassador sounds like such a profound title. When I think of an ambassador, I think of someone dressed very formally who meets other important individuals to engage in high-level and important worldly discussions.
And yet, ambassador also has a secondary meaning. Maybe it doesn’t have the same resonance but it is just as important. An ambassador is also a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specified activity.
The LTEN Ambassador Committee is, in my own words, the welcome wagon for LTEN. The ambassadors promote what LTEN has to offer new members. We connect with new members, offering guidance and recommending the many assets LTEN has to offer. Generally, we’re there to help new members acclimate to our network and get them started out properly.
Back to the Future
Let me start from the beginning. Approximately one year ago, I was invited to become an ambassador for what was then the newest LTEN committee. When I asked what that meant, there really was no definitive answer. It was more of an idea and a “let’s see where this goes and adapt as we move along” kind of thing.
Fast-forward one year, the LTEN Ambassador Committee has evolved to a wide-reaching group whose members say hi when you first walk in the door. We’re people who you meet at your first-year LTEN conference or mixer and introduce you to others, friends who are willing to just take a moment of their time to help you out.
The ambassadors tend to be the outgoing members. The ones who say hello to you first — the ones who recognize the person at a conference, looking around, wondering what to do next, and step in to help.
But Wait, There’s More
Behind the scenes, what do the ambassadors do? The committee receives new information monthly on new members who have joined LTEN. Each team member reaches out to an assigned new member with creative or even quirky subject lines, so that new members notice the email.
As ambassadors, we look for responses, but often there are none. That’s OK for us — we relish the responses that we do receive, but we understand every LTEN member follows their own path of involvement and engagement.
Conclusion
To sum it up, how do you feel when you walk into a store and no one greets you? Or if you walk into your first day on the job and no one says hello? Would you feel welcome? Would you be willing to stay?
LTEN is a network that promotes connections, sharing and support to improve your abilities to do your training job. Many of us were in the same situation before, and we know how we reacted and what we did to be successful.
If you’re new to LTEN and haven’t heard from an ambassador, please reach out tome. Same goes if you’re a member interested in joining the LTEN Ambassador Committee.
Like anything, you get out of the program what you put into it. The LTEN Ambassador program is another way of welcoming people into the vastness of what we have to offer. What we really offer is a friendly face, a simple smile and some support.
Mark Butsavage is a sales training manager for B. Braun Medical. Email Mark at mark.butsavage@bbraunusa.com or connect with him through linkedin.com/in/mark-butsavage-4496763b.
