No matter what anyone tells you business is not hard and being a good business person is not hard. Being a person who is respected and even esteemed is not that difficult. Being someone that others turn to in their time of need is easy. Being that person that people respect, even if they don’t […]
Embrace Your Failures!
It’s a shame to waste a good failure. You can tell how great a company is by how many failures they experience. This is based on the idea that if you’re not failing, you’re not doing enough. In fact you’re probably standing still, you’re stagnating, which is the closest thing to death a company does […]
Reps Need a Better Deal Part Two: The Solutions
Last week we discussed why PCB and PCBA manufacturer’s reps need a better deal. This week we will discuss some ideas, suggestions, and ideas of what that better deal and that better contract should look like. We are looking for a win for both the principal and the rep. Let’s look at the issues and […]
Giving Our Reps A Better Deal Is A Win-Win
First of all, let me say there are no bad guys here. Only good guys trying to work with each other. I am sure you have all noticed how difficult it is to find good reps today when it comes to selling PCBs and PCBA’s. That is not to say there are no good reps […]
So, You’re A Leader Are You?
How self-aware of being a good leader are you? Are you sure of yourself? Do you lead with confidence? How about courage? Are you a courageous leader able to make those hard decisions when they need to be made? Do you believe in yourself as a leader? Do others believe in you as their leader? […]
Yes, You Need A New Marketing Approach
The old ways of doing marketing are done and gone. The new world demands that all companies, yes, all companies, have to approach marketing differently but also those of us in the B2B (business to business space) have to reinvent the way we do marketing. Social media has been here for over twelve years now. […]
You Gotta Love The Dead!
Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead Yes, that’s right you Deadheads, it’s time to not only appreciate their music but appreciate the marketing lessons that you can learn from them. No this is not a joke, far from it, this is serious, deadly serious, these lessons come from the book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful […]
Delegate And Elevate
One of the great things about being a manager, not just a sales manager which I always write about in this forum, but any manager, is the opportunity to mentor, challenge, educate, lead and most importantly inspire the members of your team to do things they did not think they could do, and help them […]
New Salespeople For A New World!
We are seeing the evolution of salespeople. It is no secret that many of our sales professionals are aging out, they are retiring or moving out to that great golf course in the sky. As they exit the premises so do some age old practices that go with them. In our own sales lifetimes, we […]
The New Labor Force
The gap between employee and employer in business is now considered one of the biggest challenges we face today. Our hiring base is vastly different from what it always was, and we are going to have to adapt if we want to be able to meet our workforce requirements. This is not the greatest generation […]