| Pardon the length of this tribute...I am VERY grateful to Roy.
A letter of gratitude and tribute to Roy Chitwood, developer of Track Selling. Remembering a mentor, guide, and cherished friend.
Dear Roy,
Though more than 10 years have passed since you left mortality and entered the spirit world, your presence endures in the work rhythms of my daily life and Track Selling wisdom that influences my decisions. I write this not only as a tribute, but as a letter of heartfelt gratitude—a message sent across the veil of time and mortality, hoping you know you are missed, remembered, and how profoundly you shaped the course of my life.
From our earliest days together at Max Sacks International - while I worked at Open Systems in the 1980’s - you took me under your wing with a generous spirit. I remember driving you to some of our accounting software resellers so you would understand how to effectively train hundreds of them throughout North America.
I remember annual marketing meetings in LA and Seattle—where your keen insights and patient mentorship became the compass by which I – and other Track Selling distributors – navigated an uncertain professional world. To this day, I use your pattern to conduct meetings, encouraging participants to look for and then share their "most important idea". A tried-and-true template.
It is correctly stated that sales training is a challenging row to hoe. That’s true, yet your commitment to KIS-MIF (Keep it Simple and Make it Fun) also made it joyful.
You taught not through grand gestures or proclamations, but by example. Your integrity was uncompromising; your passion for teaching and building a business was infectious. You believed that the heart of sales was not manipulation, but understanding and serving—and in every client, every colleague, you sought not a transaction, but a relationship. In your presence, the world seemed a little kinder, a little sharper, and infinitely more possible.
As the years unfurled—nearly four decades of camaraderie, challenge, and growth—I found in you not just a mentor, but a friend. You celebrated my triumphs with genuine joy and buoyed me through setbacks like Amy’s passing and bankruptcy with a steady hand and a reassuring word. Your encouragement gave me courage; your laughter lightened dark days.
Your expressions like, “This too shall pass”, “Things just work out”, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”, and “Keep on keepin’ on”… I still hear your voice saying those things. That’s a mentor’s impact!
I cannot reflect on this journey without mentioning Al Kauder, who, alongside you, offered local wisdom, perspective, and support that was instrumental in shaping my career’s trajectory. After I was fired from Open Systems, you and Al collaboratively decided to bring me aboard and provide new hope, direction, and a philosophy of life that’s now been passed on to my children and grandchildren. The effect of your training and example enters the third generation of Holms, Crookstons, Fredricksons, Higleys, etc. You and Al were a formidable team and together cultivated an environment where learning flourished and possibility was never in short supply.
We often marveled that hordes of salespeople were not lined up outside our door demanding to be admitted into the workshops. I continue to marvel that today. You reminded me that there are no limits to earning and serving in sales training. Fortunes can be earned with the next phone call. We never lamented not living a punch-the-clock life
Roy, the lessons you imparted have become part of the very fabric of who I am. When I face a difficult business decision, I ask myself what you would advise; when I train others or offer a word of encouragement, I hear the cadence of your voice. I am endlessly grateful for the faith you placed in me, for the doors you opened, and for the example you set of what it means to lead with both excellence and compassion: to become a true sales professional.
The final years of your life were especially challenging. Diminished blood flow to your feet led to amputations of toes, an ankle, calf, and knee. Those removals meant lost balance, resulting in a face-first crash to the floor. Yet you rebounded and persevered. A week before your passing, you told the doctor you needed to get back to the office because you "had a company to run." True to principle to the end.
Faced now with similar challenges in my life, I remember your encouragement to “save the big toe” because of the balance and pivot it provides. Who would have thought cherished advice would come down to a toe.
Though time does not erase missing you, it deepens my appreciation for the legacy you left behind—not merely in the field of sales, but in the lives you touched…your sons Ron and Brian, nephew Jim, Anneli, Bill, Bravo, Rick Cobb, Ray Felix, Jamee Smith, Jason Kleid, Alex Rasmussen, Peter Davis, Mike Thomas, Steve Tonissen, Jennifer Lee Wilson and many others…the possibilities you inspired, and the friendships you nurtured. The light you shared continues to illuminate paths for others, including mine.
I want you to know that you’re one of the four faces on my personal Mount Rushmore along with my Dad, bride JoAnn, and Gardner Russell (my LDS Mission President in Uruguay). That lets you know the huge impact you’ve had.
Thank you, Roy, for your mentorship, your friendship, and your unwavering belief in what I could become. May this letter serve as a small token of the gratitude I carry, now and always. I look forward to seeing you again in the spirit world, but not yet!
I close with a quote from your book World Class Selling. “And last, but not least, to all my friends and relatives who have supported me during the past several years as I have grown to be a better salesperson, teacher, businessperson, and above all, a more loving and caring human being.”
A grateful friend and protégé, with enduring love and respect,
Ron Holm (aka “Other Ron”), after Ron Chitwood
Good luck and good selling (on both sides of the veil) |
