Little Johnny was a Bully in Third Grade, Now He’s a Purchasing Agent Are there Bullies in the Purchasing Department New Sellers are Falling Victim to Bad Guys Dressed as Purchasing Agents All three of these were considered as titles for this article.  I like them all, but I don’t like what purchasing people do to new sellers across our land. Throughout my life, I have dealt with hundreds if not thousands of purchasing departments.  Purchasing departments come with many different monikers – Purchasing, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Sourcing Group, Resource Management, Indirect Supply Management, and probably a dozen more.  For simplicity, let’s call them purchasing people.  Their main role is to handle the administrative side of the products needed by their company with one large additional task.  Many purchasing people are also charged with buying those products at the lowest possible price.   Most purchasing people imply that they are ...

You’re a new salesperson. You’re on the hunt for potential customers. And… it’s a struggle to find people willing to accept an appointment with you. Since you either found the name off the internet or asked someone “Who at your company buys left-handed widgets?” and ended up with a name, you find yourself face to face with a denizen of the purchasing department. Purchasing departments come in many sizes, shapes and flavors. Other potential titles might include procurement, sourcing, supplier relationship management, and supply chain management. But make no mistake, these are purchasing people. Back in 2014, I received a great deal of flack for making/publishing this comment (and quoting myself): “Imagine an epic battle. Conjure up a vision of cloven-hooved archfiends dashing the lifeblood of our economy. Think about an ever-escalating conflict with carnage scattered back to the 1970s. Visualize a place where one side knowingly operates under false assumptions and poorly conc...

Introduction and explanation: A few years ago, a friend (fellow writer) and I were bouncing around ideas for the future. Somehow we got off topic and started talking about the stories shared with our kids back in the day. In a world where none of the kids’ stories actually relate to the life of a distributor salesperson, we wondered what would happen if we created “Fairy Tales for Sales” – stories which carried meaning for the sales professional and the kiddos as well. This year we are providing a couple of Holiday Stories which fall under these guidelines. Good reading for the kids and a message for the grownups. We hope you enjoy…. Negotiating with Santa As Frank looks back, he may have been a bit like Billy... Looking back at the last year, Little Billy wasn’t sure his behavior would put him onto Santa’s nice list.  There had been a few temper tantrums, a little pouting and an issue at school with his teacher.  Just last week, Billy got into some trouble wi...

"Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays" This is a funny line from a movie that often goes through the  heads of anyone who works in a traditional or corporate type office.  Sometimes you’re just not looking forward to getting back to the grind.  Other times, you need a vacation from your vacation.  But basically, the premise of waiting 5 more days until the weekend can be a bit daunting.   I just returned last night from a trip to Mexico City where relaxation was apparently not on the agenda.  Returning to the loads of email, stacks of mail, and a full voicemail, I can say I have a case of the Mondays…on Tuesday. But I have to wonder, since my fine readers are from all over the world and work in so many different fields, maybe your Mondays signify something different:  Maybe you’re the fresh new sales guy looking forward to your first sales call. Maybe you’re in Purchasing and you’ve debated all weekend ...

As with all fairy tales, this one happened once upon a time in a land not so far away. There, of course, was a princess who was quite obviously a mix of hillbilly and ridge-runner descent. Her mother, in a fit of rage or depression, named her Gerpruda, Princess Priscilla Gerpruda XIII to be exact. Anyway, this Princess Gerpruda (the thirteenth) lived in Never-Never Land. (Never-Never turn down a Sales Opportunity and Never-Never think outside the box-land-that is.) Gerpruda lacked typical royal charm and beauty. At the age of 37, her parents thought an intervention was necessary to find a proper suitor. A decree was made and a call went throughout the land for a suitable prince to wed the lovely Priscilla Gerpruda. After twelve years and two months, it appeared there was truth to the rumor that all of the potential “Prince-ton” material had been turned into frogs by a neighboring wizard. In ‘88 the Wizards and Warlocks Frog Turning Competition had been held on the pala...

The Challenge – How to Incentivize a Distributor Photo from zazzle.com Purchasing Professional After writing tons of articles on the sales process in distribution where I brutally vilify purchasing and procurement types, I received an email with the following: “Frank, you often make sweeping generalizations about purchasing types. As a former sales guy, I tend to agree with most of what you say. However, my organization (a distributor) has a couple of purchasing people. And while I certainly don’t push them to lie, cheat or steal from our vendors, I would like for them to be more proactive in helping our business make money. Do you have any recommendations for points we should intensify them on? Is it possible for them to do more than just enter orders with our suppliers?” This was a very good question and one I hadn’t thought about for quite some time. There are many purchasing folks working in distribution. These folks are critical to our organization. Most are har...