For years we've discussed the reasons for joining trade associations and the benefits of attending association meetings: Attending these meetings is essential for building valuable connections, staying updated on industry trends, and enhancing professional growth.  These gatherings offer unique networking opportunities, access to exclusive insights, and skill-building sessions led by industry experts.  Being active in associations also strengthens credibility and influence within the field, making it a powerful way to stay competitive and inspired. (It's a great way to get out of a funk or selling drought.) Plus, they're a heck of a lot of fun! You can count on off-site adventures and cocktail hours to keep things interesting. Plus, I've made some lifelong friends along the way. Most recently, I had the honor of attending the AHTD Fall Meeting. If you missed it, here is a quick video recap with Nikki Gonzales  from the Automation Ladies Podcast. Frank Hurtte is a huge ...

Like all of us, I have politics on the brain—my text messages and spam calls have been reminding me about the election for weeks! However, we can learn a few valuable lessons from politicians, which apply to trade shows and conferences.  Yes, it’s trade show and conference season. While some folks are busy counting down the days to Christmas, others are looking down the road and realizing the NAED Eastern meeting is coming up in January. It is not advisable to do all your holiday shopping on December 24, just as waiting until early January to prepare for the upcoming conference is unwise. Let’s discuss the best practices for trade shows and conferences so you aren’t doing the last-minute scramble.  Job 1: Plan and Strategize Job 2: Network and Take Notes Job 3: Follow up Job 4: Debrief your team Start planning early. Your conference is in January, in this example, so you had better start planning in October or early November. 90 working days before the event is the ideal time ...

First a personal proclamation:  I am a proponent and advocate for membership in distributor associations.   After fourteen years of working for the manufacturing side, I attended my first such meeting back in 1991.  The first meeting was scheduled by the owner of our company.  I expected to have fun, make some new friends, and maybe learn a few pointers on the nuances of running a distributor.  I did; however, I also observed a couple of negative things that were, quite frankly, disgusting to me.    The negative points -the boondoggle thing Some distributors saw these meetings as a tax-deferred vacation.  They came to play, not to work.  As a young, and perhaps idealistic, distributor of 37, I was determined to grow my business and make a difference in the industry.  I saw several people whose only real involvement in the meeting was participation in the cocktail hour and going out to dinner with friends.   While I ...

  True confessions, way back in the early stages of my career, a friend who knew I was in sales gave me  a Zig Ziglar calendar.  Each day came with random quotes from the famed sales trainer.  Quite frankly, most of them were throwaways that applied more to guys selling waterbeds or satellite TV contracts than to the electrical and automation products I was selling.  Sandwiched into those 365 days (maybe 366, it could have been leap year for all I know) were two quotes that I continue to share with others:   Thought One: “Enthusiasm for the product or service comes from product knowledge. How can we develop enthusiasm for something about which we have little or no knowledge?”    Thought Two: “Stop selling. Start helping.”   These should be the mottos of every salesperson on the planet regardless of industry.  If you consider yourself a Sales Engineer, they are mandatory descriptors.  For the past 40 plus years, I have considered my...

This month the fine folks at InTech Magazine were kind enough to ask me to write an editorial on the automation market.  My guess is they really wanted someone who was “long in the tooth” to comment on the cavalcade of changes in product technology – "a back in my day the PLCs ran on kerosene" sort of piece.   Being a distribution guy, I penned “ Selecting an Automation Distributor?  It’s about finding the right stuff ”.  In the automation world, over 89% of the customers buy from distributors.  Yet many are tossing dimes down the drain because they aren’t tapping into the right distributor services.  Catch us on Lulu.com In the article I charged customers with asking their distributors these questions: ·          What can your organization do to improve the uptime of my facility? ·          Do you have a plan to help us drive down our cost of doin...