When the Center for Naval Analyses told us it would help them if we could listen to classified briefings as part of our training contract, we underwent the required scrutiny and got a security clearance.

When President Clinton’s head of the OCC said he wanted some help with some key speeches, we were not only in D.C. coaching him that week, we were on a plane to Sacramento to see him in action the following week. He got a standing ovation. We got a satisfied Comptroller of the Currency.

When SmartLinc e-mailed Dr. Powell on Monday and said their CEO wanted help preparing for a critical presentation to a group of venture capitalists on short notice, Ron was on a plane to Los Angeles that Wednesday.

When the head of security analysts at Wheat First Securities, Inc. told us he thought was important for their vendor to sit in on a "Morning Call" prior to a week of presentation skills training for 50 of his analysts , Ron said, "Sure, no problem.." A competing firm said, "Sure, but we’ll have to charge you."

When the head of National Media Relations at Nationwide wanted media training for a fund manager appearing on Wall Street Week in two weeks, we were in Columbus, Ohio the next week to help get him ready. Louis Rukheyser thinks our client has a great mutual fund. We think we have a great client.

When Freddie Mac’s director of the Western Region said he had some new presenters who could use some basic skills training prior to a customer conference, all it took was a quick turnaround back to Los Angeles to get the job done.

And, when a U.S. Congressman wanted to prep for a 60 Minutes interview, we were in his office in D.C. until late that same night helping him get ready to appear on the most watched program in the United States.

Of course, most of the time, you won’t need this kind of immediate responsiveness to your training or coaching initiatives. But isn’t it nice to know that if you do, help will be there when you need it? Our clients usually say, "Thanks a lot."

We say, "It’s our job."