Finding The Right Partner When you struck out on your own and started your rep firm you had to decide just how large you wanted to firm to be. Many people just strike out on their own and go solo for a while. After a time once the company has successfully launched they might want […]
What The Heck Is Wrong With PCB Shops Making Money?
In a recent column I talked about board shops making money and how upset our customers were at the very thought of their board shop vendors making money. Many times over the years I have heard our customers complaining bitterly about how much money we make. They seem to think that all the shops […]
Prospecting Is Mandatory
Get out there and do it now! I know you hate to prospect and you hate to make cold calls, so this is what we have to talk about today. Whether you like it or not. There is a great book by Mark Hunter called High-Profit Prospecting, a trade paperback published by Amacom. This book is […]
Don’t Give Your PCBs Away!
Look I know getting business is hard. I know that you’re biggest problem is always having enough business and I certainly know that most of our customers pride themselves in buying the cheapest circuit board that money can buy. But still that is no excuse to give away your boards. You have got to make […]
Customer Service Starts At The Top
All customer service starts at the top. It’s a cultural thing. To have great customer service you have to have respect for your customers, everyone in the company has to respect the customer not just the customer service people. Look, it’s pretty easy to pass everything along to the customer service people (by the way […]
What Goes Around…
This column is meant for those companies who need printed circuit boards but don’t want to communicate with the PCB shops directly. It’s meant for those customers who believe that a PCB is just a thin piece of green plastic that anyone can build. This is for those companies who feel that the board shops […]
Building A Great Reputation
When you’re in sales, the most important thing you have is your reputation. It’s all about what people think of you that will determine whether or not you will be successful. And of course, how many people know who you are. This is why you have to have a personal marketing plan built on your […]
The High Cost Of Buying Cheap
A few weeks ago, I talked about the pride some of our customers have in buying the cheapest products available on the market today. About how for some reason, some companies feel that they can buy the cheapest parts they can get their hands on and then turn around and tell their customers that their […]
It Takes Patience To Be A Great Sales Manager
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 […]
It’s All About The Content!
The better the content, the better the story, the more provocative the message, the more successful your marketing and branding will be. But as we all know writing great content is not always as easy as it seems. Especially, if you want to write authentic content with stories that are actually true, instead of lifted […]