Industrial Supply Magazine recently published River Heights Consulting Founder Frank Hurtte’s follow-up article on scams facing distributors.  Read here . http://www.industrialsupplymagazine.com/pages/Print-edition---JanFeb17_Hurtte.php We have received even more notifications from distributors who were suckered or nearly swindled out of their hard earned dough.  Most of these scammers are pretty sophisticated, others not so.  Either way, our informal study into the subject indicates scammers are costing distributors mega bucks.  We have had our fair share of those looking to spare others by sharing their horror stories: "Watch out for those customer willing to accept full list price. In this day and age people can find competitive pricing instantly with a few clicks of the mouse. Why would an experienced purchasing agent not shop or a least haggle." "Be wary if a customer calls in an order with a credit card and sends someone else to pic...

Pardon me while I rant . One of the original self-proclaimed experts I just finished reading an article by a fresh faced, newly minted and self-proclaimed sales expert. Quite frankly, I don’t remember if she called herself a business coach, sales trainer, consultant or something similar, but her message stressed the point of helping salespeople in two ways: 1) Avoid measuring selling activities as these metrics frustrate new salespeople who struggle to get into the rhythm of setting appointments, making follow-up calls and learning about customers. 2) Measure sales output. Things like numbers of orders generated, gross margin and incoming requests for quotes. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Terrible advice, possibly the worst advice since the neighbor told Noah to expect a drought. And, the whole thing was prominently published in an online distribution magazine. Let me explain why I this frustrates me. Coaching salespeople based on their output doesn’t work. Allo...