Few practices drive more value to your business than year- end planning, yet many distributors fail to put the proper effort into their plans. There are a thousand reasons/excuses ranging everywhere from the perennial, “We’re too busy driving business to spend time planning” to “Planning just doesn’t apply to our business.” A few don’t build strong end-of-year plans because they simply don’t have a workable model to use in their efforts. End of Year Planning is Important Once a year, it’s a good thing to pause and consider how things have changed in the past and the impact of those changes in the future. Like the proverbial frog in boiling water, slow and steady environmental changes are difficult to comprehend in “real time.” A subtle shift here, a little bump in the economy there, add a dash of personnel changes and before you realize it, your business is performing like a 1984 Renault Alliance (the crappiest car ever owned by anyone in our office). In reality, many d...

Make no mistake, customers are thinking and behaving differently today than just a couple years ago. When I was a  rookie sales guy, the primary source of product information for my customers was their favorite salesperson. Introducing customers to new products, providing catalogs for additional product data searches and demonstrations of new features (and benefits) of existing products was job one. Early on, I discovered the salesperson who provided the best and most valuable information held a position of grace and favor. #ASKGUDMUNDUR: The world's  first human search engine. Once I worked my way into the favored spot, I became the trusted “human search engine” used to find solutions and new products. Here’s how it went. The customer described their problem, I took notes, drew pictures and scurried off to research a list of possible solutions. A week or two later, I returned with a few catalog data sheets, a dozen or so pictures and we refined the “search” and ...

Viewed from outer space the Earth looks smoother than a billiard ball. What’s more according to the experts at Discovery Magazine, the looks are not deceiving. Lumps on billiard balls (diameter 2.25 inches) can be no more than 0.005 inches in height. Applying this theory to our little outpost in the universe the maximum “bump” cannot exceed 17 miles in size. With Mount Everest at 5.5 miles high and the Marianas Trench (the deepest spot in the ocean) at nearly 7 miles deep, Earth is actually twice as smooth as that slick black 8-ball we sometimes shoot for the corner pocket. What has this to do with year-over-year growth plans? Plenty.  Allow me to explain. Everyone likes strong dynamic growth. Setting and achieving aggressive goals is a thing of beauty. Applying this philosophy, manufacturers sometimes decide to build incentives into their channel plans. Here’s how it generally works. It’s a pay for performance thing. Grow your business by 20 percent and you receiv...

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. ...

Research by industry consultant Brent Grover indicates the typical distributor invests over $150,000 before a salesperson generates profit for the company. Here’s an attention grabber, that new guy out there struggling to figure things out is burning through dollars like a forest fire. A couple of months ago, I hosted a meeting of new distributor salespeople. Their common link; they all had fewer than 18 months experience in the outside role. We asked which of them had any training when they hit the road. Unfortunately, most were introduced to their new job the same way as their bosses: “Here’s the key to the company car, there’s your territory, go forth and sell.” Despite high costs and financial mounting financial pressures, most distributors start new salespeople off without a well thought out onboarding process. One of the critical points of bringing on any new salesperson comes in setting process expectations. They start their career without truly understanding some ...

Our industry adds another new seller to the ranks daily. Over the past year, we have had the opportunity to speak to dozens of them, but compared to the vast number out there this is but a thimble full of water in a sea of people. For the coming year, I am determined to change that percentage. Why? First, the demographics demand it. Every time we speak to a group of distributor sales types, it’s hard not to notice the number of folks who are pushing up against retirement. A few weeks ago, I took a quick poll and over 40 percent of my audience qualified for AARP membership (50 plus). There is nothing wrong with being an experience salesperson. As a matter of fact, it is probably a good thing. But, our industry will need to fill the ranks. Second, I am convinced our industry must change and one of the big changes comes in how we find new people. The days of doing nothing till you need someone, then going out to “steal” an experienced person from the competition is ge...