This post may seem a bit astray from my usual musings, but with so many down with a multitude of illnesses this season, I felt I should take a moment to share how my New Year has gone so far.  It ain't pretty. A few hundred of my closest Facebook friends already know this, but Mr. Distributor Expert Extraordinaire had the shingles. Yep, without warning, without prior notice, that little bit of chicken pox virus that has been in my system since the summer between first and second grade has decided now would be a great time to come back to life. Allow me to give you a four minute play by play of the disease in action. Let it be known, I like memorable birthdays. I have referenced this before, but old Frank’s birthday falls squarely over the top of National Pie Day. Typically, I skip past the birthday cake, ice cream and candles to have a gigantic slice of pie to celebrate. This year, I skipped the pie; perhaps missing the curative powers of a flaky crust and raisin filling. ...

It’s November. The Midwestern Iowa leaves feature Technicolor rainbows of colors; bright red, deep orange, a thousand shades of yellow. A bit of warmth lingers, but Thanksgiving, December, and the Holiday season make this time of year go by quickly. Two painful realities of the season loom in the distance - yard cleanup and annual planning.  As I jot down these few words, I feel the approaching pain of a future Sunday afternoon manhandling a rake around the property.  Some pay a neighborhood teenager to handle the raking. But it’s hard to find an $8.00 an hour surrogate for End of Year Planning. Planning needn’t be the dreaded task hanging around the corner. Join me as we remove the pain out of the process. Start early . Many of us don’t dig into the task of Year End Planning until the last minute. A few of us dread the seemingly gigantic nature of the job so much, the procrastination pushes us into next the year. I know people who move paper clip sorting to the front and ce...

Out on a lonely street of the seldom used two-lane highway between Dubuque, Iowa and Madison, Wisconsin, there once stood a ragged and paint-worn billboard with these words emblazoned in three foot letters: “Eliminate the Middle Man and Save!” While the sign has likely fallen and the once flourishing cheese factory is gone, the legend lives on in the hearts of untrained purchasing professionals everywhere. It’s one of their dozens of negotiation tools and they’re not afraid to use it on the unsuspecting manufacturer’s sales executive. Allow me to set the stage for the typical play of this tool… The purchasing guy’s company uses your product and has for a considerable amount of time. One day, you get a call from the purchasing department. The buyer asks for a meeting but specifically requests you come without your distributor. During the meeting, this procurement guy describes how his company likes your product and wants to strengthen and expand their business relationship with...

Annual Planning for Distributors It’s November. The Midwestern Iowa leaves feature Technicolor rainbows of colors; bright red, deep orange, a thousand shades of yellow. A bit of warmth lingers, but Thanksgiving, December, and the Holiday season rapidly approach. Two painful realities of the season loom in the distance - yard cleanup and annual planning. As I jot down these few words, I feel the approaching pain of a future Sunday afternoon manhandling a rake around the property. Some pay a neighborhood teenager to handle the raking. But it’s hard to find an $8.00 an hour surrogate for End of Year Planning. Planning needn’t be the dreaded task hanging around the corner. Join me as we remove the pain out of the process. Start early . Many of us don’t dig into the task until the last minute. A few of us dread the seemingly gigantic nature of the job so much, we procrastinate into next the year. I know people who move paper clip sorting to the front and center in order...