Frank’s Chat with Santa Everyone is busy this time of year, but Santa and his North Pole Industries team feel the most pressure. I knew Mr. Claus would be very busy, but I needed to talk to him. Using the “Dialing for Dollars” process outlined in my latest book, The New Sales Guy Project, I decided to make a call.  I only had North Pole Industries' address – no phone number and no email.  Oh well, time to practice what I preach on getting hold of people.  I jumped over to Google and searched for a direct number for Santa Claus.  My search results were many, so I tightened up the search by adding “Santa Claus” and “phone number”.  Hidden in the first three results was a mention of his number (605-313-4000 don’t believe me give it a ring).  Entering the number, I ended up with, you guessed it, voice mail.  I left this message:   “Santa this is Frank Hurtte of River Heights Consulting.  You probably remember that we spoke briefly about th...

Industrial Distribution Magazine has a fun short video feature that provides insight into the world of distribution. This is perfect for someone who doesn't have time to read lengthy articles.  Frank had the honor of being featured recently as he discussed the reasons behind his book, The New Sales Guy Project. Check out 5 Minutes with ID  HERE .

I have always found it easy to compare odd stories to the world of sales. Writing my latest book was a personal thing.  I love our industry and even more, I love the process of providing solutions to appreciative customers.  The book was a labor of love for our industry.  As I launched into the process, I was nagged by the thoughts of how I could add more of my personality to the book.    As I reviewed the book for the umpteenth time, I started jotting down off-the-cuff anecdotes and observations for sidebars within the text.  Most are pertinent to the book's storyline and off the wall.  To separate them from the intended content, I put them in shaded boxes.  I wanted readers to value these sections as bonus material beyond the scope of the book.    Last week a friend who was going through the book with a couple of his salespeople reported that these sidebars have become a great addition to his sales meetings.  For the next...

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 ...

True Confessions:  I have never really cared for the use of the term “adult” as a verb.  Over the past few years, after h earing lame and seemingly made-up excuses from several people, I have decided it is appropriate in many ways, especially in the field of Sales.  We know we all got a little too comfortable with working remotely in our PJs and some are still fighting the return to normal. You see, I spent my entire life in one way or another tied to the selling process.  I self-categorize myself as a salesperson. I love everything about the whole concept of asking questions and presenting potential solutions to engaged customers.  I have made it my job to help others get started and grow in the business.  In the process, a trend has surfaced. I would call it a lack of Adulting. "Alexa, order me an alarm clock on wheels" Adults get to appointments on time. Let’s start with the simple premise, you tell someone you will be at their office at 9:00.  Cool...

We just received notice from Amazon that our new book, The New Sales Guy Project* , has risen to number 503 on Amazon’s List of Top Selling books in the Sales and Selling category.     Considering that our book is designed exclusively for the small group of folks just launching their selling career in the Knowledge-based Distribution world, which isn’t exactly a massive market, and that we have invested exactly zero dollars in advertising, we are kind of proud of the ground swell of support from our friends in the industry.   The top books in this category include works from some of Frank Hurtte’s personal heroes who produced books like: The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon Drive and To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink Spin Selling by Neil Rackham   While checking out the list we also discovered that Hurtte’s other books are scoring well too.   The Distributor Fee-Based Services Manifest is tracking at 187 in the Distribution category. ...

Who needs to read this book, who doesn’t, and why? Ask any authors and they will freely tell you about the inspiration behind their penned masterpiece.  They will also give you a list of reasons to buy (and read) the book.  It’s unheard of for an author to tell you NOT to make the purchase.  But, I’m not just any author.   My motivation for writing this book. I have been personally involved in the sales process for Knowledge-based Distributors for a very long time; forty-five years at last count.  I have assisted new salespeople in some way or another for at least thirty years. As a Knowledge-based distributor salesperson with over 45 years of experience, I acknowledge that most of the skills and methodologies I learned early in my career are outdated.  While most experienced salespeople do not have as much experience as me, it’s safe to say sales leaders who started their journey after the launch of the iPhone in 2007 have a completely different exper...

If you're a regular reader, you know how we've been discussing sales tips and techniques here since 2008.  In order to keep things fresh, we took on this huge project interviewing over 200 salespeople and their sales managers about their rookie strategies.  This labor of love took over four years, thanks to COVID, and is now available on Amazon ! Invest in your team of rookies and re-energize those experienced sellers!  It's easy to follow and a fairly quick read. We will also be launching a mentor group next week!  Shoot us an email if you would like more details! *Amazon links may pay RHC a small commission that does not affect your purchase price.