Skill Three Targeting One of the issues that I faced as a young sales person revolved around this simple statement.   All customers are not created equal.   As a guy who grew up believing in fairness, equality and all the rest of the American Creed, this was hard.   I wanted to treat every single person who ever purchased one of my products with the same level of support and the same level of attention.    The little guys loved me and I developed a loyal following – but my sales didn’t grow.   It was only after I came to realize not everyone had the ability, the volume and the potential to help me reach my own goals that I started to progress professionally.   My first efforts revolved around size of account, and this was a good start.   However, it’s more complex than just size.   When we match our products and services to the customer most likely gain high value from what we do, we begin the trek to sales success.   When we a...

The wholesalers over at HARDI have found themselves located at the corner of Recession and Housing Market Collapse.   These are the folks who sell heating and air conditioning equipment into the residential and commercial markets.   Some of these folks saw the market they serve shrivel to just over half of its former size during the recessionary days of 2008-2009.   Those who comfortably rode out the storm (and there were a few who did), had strong processes around inventory levels and pricing policy.   Based on the work we have done with David Bauders and his Strategic Pricing Associates , we know a few actually improved their margins during those tough times. In a time when some distributors are experiencing “growth sputter” we can only hope this sector of the distributor trade continues. Here is the complete listing from Snips Magazine …. After a largely disappointing 2011, January was a good month for many members of the Heating, Airconditio...

 Don't let the idea of a sales process drive you mad! Skill Two: Process In an earlier posting, I noted I felt planning was the single most critical skill for sales people.   Think about this: the power to anticipate and prepare for the future is a major differentiator of mankind.   One of the first measures of civilization comes in the form of the calendar.   The Egyptians, Mayans, Phoenicians, Aztecs, and the hillbillies from which the Hurtte clan emerged, all had calendars.   They developed plans, but that’s not enough.   Carrying out a plan in a systematic method is process.   And to really be a process they must contain three ingredients: ·          Documentation – Without some written record of how we handle thing,s it’s far too easy to stray from the plan. ·          Measurements and Metrics – These assist in understanding changes in our performance o...

Electrical Wholesaling Giant Graybar has just announced a partnership with Vending Machine Maker SupplyPro of San Diego. First, we automated the manufacturing process, now we are automating the services behind the manufacturing process. The concept is simple – instead of paying a person to dispense consumable products why not use a “high tech candy machine”. The customer inserts a card to tell the machine which department needs the part and out it pops. No fuss, no muss…. Well at least in ideal conditions.

  Joint Survey Finds Distribution Firms in Hiring Mood, But Having Trouble Finding the Right People Chicago, Ill.—March 12, 2012— A recent survey by the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence on behalf of the Industrial Careers Pathway ® (ICP ® ) found that 91 percent of distribution firms surveyed plan to hire new employees within the next five years. Firms in this mature industry are facing an unprecedented demographic with three to four out of every 10 workers planning to retire within five years [1] . That leaves not only a labor gap, but a brain drain, for an industry where product application and process knowledge and relationships with customers drive profitability.   Terry Knight is a top executive charged with the responsibility for strategic sales and business development with SKF USA, Inc., a global manufacturer and supplier of industrial products and services, supported by some 7,000 distribution firms and dealers worldwide. Knight, who also serves a...

  Often how we see ourselves and reality are two different things. I place planning at the top of my list for the effective salesperson.   No matter how talented you may be – it’s impossible to reach your peak performance level.   This is especially true in the new world of team selling.   Distributor Specialists, applications support people, customer service representatives and supply partner sales teams must be coordinated.   Whether you think of the salesperson as the “leader of the pack”, “conductor of the orchestra”, or just a person trying to maximize their sales revenue, strong planning is more critical than ever.   But for some reason, it often falls through the cracks of skills measurement.    I have been on joint sales calls where the salesperson had not planned.   He had no demo, no literature, and no real purpose for the call.   When I asked what we were going to talk to the customer about, he rifled throug...

It see ms we work in a world obsessed with numbers: measurements on schematics, gross margin percentages, sales quotas, minutes on our phones, days until vacation, etc. I admit it, I love them too! After all, numbers give us concrete evidence of where we are thriving. They also let us know when improvements are necessary. So often we think we’re producing at one level, but when we see it on paper, reality sets in. The same holds true when it comes to evaluating our business relationships. Whether you’re trying to put value on an employee, a distributor, or a manufacturer, it’s important to have a definitive, universal scale for each category. Over the next few months, I’ll be posting articles each week with this in mind. The series will start with self-evaluation. It’s hard to grade anyone else, if you can’t be honest about your own performance! I look forward to reading your thoughts and how you use evaluations in your own organization!