Category: Opinion
Six Game Changing Trends For The New Year
As we start preparing our companies for a new year; 2019 is just around the corner, and smart companies are already deep into their strategic planning for the new year. It is important that we look at all trends that 2019 will bring and develop our strategies around these trends. If you’re not already planning for the new year, then […]
Respect Your Board Builder
Do you know how to buy PCBs? Do you know how a PCB is built? Do you know the difference between a great PCB supplier and a mediocre or lousy one? Are you one of those companies that hate buying PCB’s, hate even dealing with PCB shops, equating them to dealing with your local DMV, or worse yet, the IRS. […]
Hey Kids, Listen up! (Some Advice For Millennials)
Don’t you love getting advice from grey beards like me? I bet you can’t wait to hear our war stories abut the good old days, right? I’m sure you just sit there and listen politely until our backs are turned and then your eyes just about roll out of your head. I know, I know, I’ve been there too. I […]
Your Executives Should Visit Customers
Yes, sales managers have to visit customers. In fact General Managers and Presidents and Quality Managers and yes, even owners need to visit customers whenever they get the opportunity. Why are we happy to just sit back and have our sales people do customer translations for us? Why are we happy or often unhappy with the information that our sales […]
Ideas For The Future
Last week I talked about some of the trends we are following into the future. Most of these came from an excellent book by Mark Penn and Meredith Fineman titled Microtrends Squared: The new small forces driving today’s big disruptions. What should be of interest to all of us is how these changes are going to affect our lives, how […]
The Future Just Ain’t What It Used To Be …Again
Okay, it’s that time again, time to take a peek into the future and see what is happening, and about to happen in our world. This time, these peeks into the future come from an excellent new book called Microtrends Squared: The New Small Forces Driving Today’s Big Disruptions, by Mark Penn. Author Penn, has spent over 40 years polling, […]
How To Get – And Keep – Independent Sales Reps
For years now I have been working with reps acting as the liaison between them and the circuit board shops I work with. During that time I have seen the interest the reps have in working with board shops diminish as quickly as the market for fax machines. Most reps seem to have lost it for our shops. They seem […]
Random Acts Of Kindness
Getting caught doing the right thing Has this happened to you? Someone in front of you at the toll booth pays your toll? Gives you a good feeling doesn’t it? Or, you get your car serviced and the mechanic notices that your tires are low on air and takes the liberty to fill them for you? Or, you go […]
50 Reasons We Don’t Need Marketing And Sales
Here are some of the dumber things I have heard from people about marketing and sales: I think I’ll place one ad in a trade magazine do you think that will be worth the money? I sent out a hundred sales letters and only received ten responses and five orders. We decided to make this offering to one thousand customers […]
Great Business Lessons From Television
I have always said that I am suspicious of anybody who does not eat meat or does not own a television. I am especially suspicious of those who say they don’t watch television. I am not sure what kind of brownie points they think they are getting for not watching TV or what they are doing that is so […]
