Great question that. If you buy into the golden rule, not that “who has the gold wins” rule, but the real one, “do unto others as you have them do unto you”, then just about everyone you deal with is your customer, and yes you should treat everyone as a customer, because that is the […]
What To Look For In A Business 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 to find an appropriate […]
Getting Your Money’s Worth From IPC Apex 2018
Here we go again, you’re heading down to sunny (hopefully, it seems to rain every time I’m there!) San Diego to seek your fame and fortune at IPC Apex 2018. Without a doubt you are investing a great deal of time and money (hotel rooms are about the price of a Fiat!) and you want […]
8 Ways To Prospect For New Accounts
We all know that companies must grow or they will die. The same thing applies to rep firms. You must keep growing your business, adding new customers, and increasing your sales, or you too will die. Too many times reps will find three or four major customers and then rely on them for their income […]
7 Ways To Make Your Principals Brag About You
If you’re a rep the best way to be successful is to have your principals love you. Sad as it may seem I almost never hear principals bragging about having a great rep. In fact, instead, I hear horror story after horror story about how reps aren’t doing anything, they are not bringing in the […]
What’s The Question?
Asking the right questions will lead to sales I have a question for you. Or actually, more than one. Are you asking the right questions? When you are face to face with a customer, especially a new prospect, do you have a list of the right questions to ask? Are you like a good lawyer, […]
The All Important Intensive Customer Survey
Whether you are in the business of board fabrication or board assembly, the fact is that you are not building your own products. You are building your customers’ products which means that you are in the business of helping your customers be successful. The better your services are, the better their products will be, and […]
Manage Your Sales team Like You Would Manage A Sports Team
Managing a sales team is just like managing a sports team. You strive to put the best team on the field and then manage them to greatness. It means just like a sports team you must deal with all the team members as individuals figuring out how to handle each of them from the prima […]
Five things Contract Manufacturers Can Do Right Now To Get More Business
Everyone is struggling to fill their factories these days, as the fight for more business heats up. It used to be that contract manufacturers had a good solid base of good customers, they could depend on year after year. Many of them were satisfied to pick up a couple of customers a year as their […]
Contract Manufacturing: Winning Those Big Accounts
Contract manufacturing is a service not a product. As CEMs, we are actually building someone else’s product, someone else’s baby. Our customers are putting the fate of their companies in our hands. If we build the product incorrectly our customers will be the ones to pay. In the end they are the ones who have their name […]