Failing your way to success. When you ask a kindergarten class which one of them are artists, all of them will raise their hands because all of them believe that they are in fact artists. Now flash forward ten years and as a class of high school juniors and ask them how many are artists? […]
Why Are We Paying Extra for Mediocre Customer Service?
We have been bombarded with robocalls this past year. At least 10 times each week, we get automatic calls to our home’s landline. The calls can show up on caller ID as “private” or “credit card security” or “bankers trust,” so we don’t really know where they come from. And of course when we answer […]
A Look At Trade Adjustment Assistance
Free money! Come and get it! It’s been a while since I talked about TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance), so I thought it might be a great time to remind everyone of what TAA actually is and what it can do for you. Now in this time of Chinese Tariffs people, many of our customers are […]
It’s the Customer Experience Stupid!
When it comes to what customers 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 a great value as they would […]
Don’t Fire Them,Fire Them Up!
Years ago, many years ago now, I read a book titled “Don’t fire them, Fire them up!” it was written by Frank Pacetta, an executive at Xerox at the time, and as the title states it was all about getting people fired up so that they would be great salespeople. The little book has stuck […]
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 […]
Developing Great Employees
The biggest problem most of my clients face today is a shortage of good people. Actually, it is a problem common to all industries, right now. A Five Guys restaurant in Washington, stood ready to open for over a year before it actually opened, because they could not find enough people to staff it. Another […]
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 […]
Selling Against Price
I hate this subject. I don’t hate it because I’m scared of it, but rather because it reminds be 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 […]