I once worked with a company president who hired a salesperson in a new territory on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend and fired him before the Fourth of July weekend. Befuddled, I asked him why. He told me, “Look, the guy had not brought in a single order.” I asked if he had brought […]
When Playing it Safe is Dangerous
Sometimes playing it safe is the most dangerous thing you can do. They say that if sharks are not on the hunt and moving forward constantly, they will die. It sounds incredible until you stop a minute and think about it. In fact, I view business like this: If you are not growing, you are […]
Good Trade Show Or Bad Trade Show, It’s Up To You
After attending the IPC Apex Expo trade show a few months ago I came to realize that there are two kinds of people: those who just come here, set up their booth and expect things to happen (and then blame the show organizers when nothing does), and those who make things happen and who think […]
How To Hire The Best
One of the questions I am most frequently asked is how can you tell who is going to make a great salesperson? How can you tell? What are the characteristics to look for in a person that will indicate that this person is bound for greatness in sales? What are you going to look for […]
Don’t Burn Those Bridges! (Ten Rules to Live By)
In sales and in life for that matter you are only as good as the people you know, work with and are friends with. You are only as strong as your affiliations. You have to know and be willing to work with everyone if you are going to be successful life. So with that […]
Some Free Advice
Can I admit to a little frustration? I have a list of what I think are great ideas. Ideas, that could make my clients great, but no matter how much I try I cannot get any of them to try these out. So, the heck with it. I’m going to just give them away to […]
On Being A Great Sales Manager
The position of sales manager is the most important and yet most underrated position in the company. Just to be straight here by the term” sales manager”, I mean the top sales person in the company, the one who is responsible for managing, measuring and motivating the sales team; the person who is responsible for […]
Hiring The 21st Century Sales Person
It’s a new world out there, and what worked in sales for years just, well, just doesn’t cut it anymore. The old sales techniques like sales on the golf course, and at the bar, and friendship over common sense business, is a thing of the past. Looking for sales people today includes an entirely new […]
Contract Manufacturers: Here Are 5 Things You Can Do Right Now To Get More Business
Everyone is struggling to fill their factories these days, as the fight for more business heats up. It used to be that contract manufacturers had a good solid base of good customers, they could depend on year after year. Many of them were satisfied to pick up a couple of customers a year as their […]
A Better Relationship With Your PCB Manufacturer Will Yield Better PCB’s
We have talked a lot in this column about how board shops should treat their customers. How they should try to get to know their customers and their needs. So now let’s switch things around and talk about how customers should treat board shops, how they should work with board shops to get the best […]