Category: Opinion
The Perfect Customer
If only… If only our customers understood us, Oh, what a wonderful world that would be! We have spent a great deal of time in this column talking about the perfect sales person, and the perfect fabricator and the perfect customer service person, so I thought it would be interested, and only fair, to write about the perfect customer…the ideal […]
Time Tested Methods That Cause PCB Companies To Crater
I know it sounds pretty brutal but hey I have to use any method I can to get your attention, because the fact is if you don’t change your ways you will go out of business in the next twelve months. Don’t get me wrong, there are opportunities out there, more of them than there has been in quite a […]
Kindness Is A Killer App
“There is only one rule I know of and that is to be kind.” – Kurt Vonnegut And I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Vonnegut. Anything else is a complete waste of time. Fighting and feuding with people is not only counter-productive but exhausting. Lawsuits are detrimental to your health. Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and thinking it will […]
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 to get as much from […]
8 Reasons To Fire Your Principal
Sometimes a rep has to do what a rep has do to. Okay, so now it’s your turn. We have talked enough about making sure that you as a rep make yourself invaluable to your principal. We have gone on ad nausea about the various ways that reps disappoint the companies they represent. So now we are going to switch […]
Sales People: Get With Social Media
Sorry, but you cannot keep ignoring marketing or even social media Remember when we thought it was funny for one of our fellow sales people to say something like,” no I don’t know how to “twit” or “tweet” or “twitter”, or whatever these kids are doing these days.” Or something like, “What is the point of this Linkedin thing anyway? […]
Stories From The PCB Sales Frontlines
Did you ever live through something that was so insane, and so stupid that you couldn’t believe it was happening right before your very eyes? I have, and many times. But I’m no different from anyone who has sold PCBs, or anyone who’s spent years in our industry, for that matter. Then, late at night when PCB sales teams get […]
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 right stuff, they are hard […]
Remember Who Is Really Doing The Work
Those of us who have spent our lives in sales, sometimes forget who really matters. As we pursue those elusive orders or solve problems, meet challenges, and soothe angry customers, it is easy for us to forget those who are really doing the work. The ones who are back at the shop, sweating it out so that all of us […]
Six Things That Will Guarantee A Great 2018
Okay here we are again. The beginning of a brand-spanking shiny new year. 2018! Who would have thought we would make it this long? But we did, and the North American PCB business is still alive and kicking. But, as we turn the page on another new year we should consider what we want to do with this new year. […]
