Okay, you’re the sales manager for a 15 million dollar board shop located in the Midwest. Your sales team consists of 6 direct regional sales people and five independent sales reps; together they cover the entire U.S. and Canada. Besides managing the sales team, you also handle the company’s marketing and yes, you are also […]
Elevating The Conversation With Your Customers
So we all think we are doing a pretty good getting to know our customers right? We think because we know what market they are in and what they build and have some sort of idea of what they need we are in pretty good shape right? Well I hate to break it to you […]
What Customers Really Want
When it comes to what customers really want there is one big secret. They think that they want our products or services. They think that they want us to deliver good products on time. They think that they want good quality. They think that they want a great price (or “great value” as they would […]
Choosing the Peak Performers
Finding the right person in the first place Just think how much time and money you can save by choosing the right sales person for your sales force. If you take the time to do it right, if you develop and implement a hiring process that fully vets the candidate before you hire her, it […]
When A Customer Says Your Price Is Too High
Why does it seem that most of our customers pride themselves on their ability to find the cheapest products in the world to put into their products, which they also claim are the best in the world? How exactly does that work? Does a great chef search the world for the cheapest ingredients he can […]
How To Interview Potential Sales Reps
The problem with finding and hiring the right sales person is that, well they are sales people, they know how to sell, they know how to talk a good game, in fact so good a game that it’s hard to figure out if they are in fact really good or just great talkers! So you […]
Book Recommendation – Ultimate Sales Tool Kit: The versatile 15-piece skill set that every professional needs
A book recommendation from Dan Beaulieu: Ultimate Sales Tool Kit: The versatile 15-piece skill set that every professional needs By William “Skip” Miller Copyright 2014Amacom Price $19.95 Pages: 229 with Index A true sales classic Truth be known I first read this book a couple of years ago when it first came out but I […]
An Emergency Plan For Increasing PCB Sales Right Away
So the year has started badly. You thought all that start of year pent up demand would have you rocking. But sales are thin and the funnel is pretty darn dry. You’re beating on your outside sales team and they are doing everything they can with their customer base. Or worse yet you don’t even […]
How To Make A Million Dollars In Sales
I want you to think about this long and hard. What are you making right now? Eighty grand? Ninety grand? One hundred and fifty grand? It’s a pretty good living. You go out and do battle in the sales wars every day, trying to make it all work so you can make a little more […]
Tales From The PCB Sales Crypt
Did you ever live through something that was so insane, and so stupid that you couldn’t believe it was happening right before your very eyes? I have, and many times. But I’m no different from anyone who has sold PCBs, or anyone who’s spent years in our industry, for that matter. Then, late at night […]