More people than ever are calling me for advice on how to spend their days. Frankly pre-Covid I would have been put off by this question. Really, a salesperson asking how she should spend her days? I would have thought she could have figured that out by now. But now, well, these are not normal […]
Why Forecasting?
As a great advocate of forecasting and the importance that a good forecast is to a company’s planning, I honestly don’t understand how someone can run any business without a forecast consisting of their current customers and how much business they will bring to their company in the next month, quarter, and year. Then, and […]
Things I’ve Heard From Salespeople In The Past 90 Days
This is certainly an interesting time we are going through. I have been on innumerable meetings with salespeople literally from all over the world and I have heard things from some of them that not only boggles the mind but also pushes the very essence of common sense over the edge. I think that every […]
That Dreaded Cold Call
To paraphrase Mark Twain “the reports of the death of the cold call have been greatly exaggerated.” I know that every salesperson in the country wishes that the cold call was in fact truly dead. But sorry guys, it’s not. To be a salesperson you have to call people and talk to them about buying […]
Ready, Set, Go!
Well maybe not today or tomorrow but we are all going to be out there again, hopefully sooner than later. So, let’s talk about what we need to do to prepare ourselves for our long overdue re-entry into the world of face to face sales. I know that it will not be business as usual, […]
Opportunities – Particularly NPI – Are Exploding!
As the world opens up, so are many opportunities. Word I am hearing from the salespeople I have been meeting with the past few weeks, is that customers are on the prowl! That’s right, customers are on the lookout for new sourcing opportunities. Companies are looking for alternative sources for their products, especially PCB and […]
Sales Is All About Trust
Building trust with your customers will make them customers for life No matter what else you do for your customers, you have to build trust. If you can get your customers to trust you they will stay with you for life…yes, even if you change companies. Over the years and in many columns, we have […]
Stay In Touch With Your Prospects And Customers Using News Flashes!
As the pandemic continues, and so many of us are stuck in our houses, it gets more and more challenging to stay in touch with our customers. Meanwhile our PCB and PCBA companies and their support companies are deemed essential and are being kept open. Actually, the companies that make up our interconnect industry are […]
Why PCB Sales People Are Forced To Be Farmers Not Hunters
…and what we need to do about it. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about why it seems to be so hard to get PCB sales people to focus on any aspect of selling from lead generation to closing a sale. This makes our job as sales consultants particularly daunting […]
Know What You’re Selling
Whether you’re selling garage door openers or guidance control systems, medical devices, kitchen appliances, laminate, or printed circuit boards, you must know your product. If you want to be a successful rep, you must study the product, understand how it is built, why it is built a certain way, and most importantly, why the product […]