There’s an old military saying: a title doesn’t make you a leader — visibility does. You can have the corner office, the fancy title on the business card, and your name on the building, but none of it matters if your people rarely see you. Leadership is not paperwork. Leadership is presence. It’s showing up, […]
Excuses Don’t Pay Invoices
Oh Man, I get so tired of the excuses. It seems like people, especially salespeople, look for every excuse under the sun to explain why they cannot do their job. I’ve been around this industry long enough to hear just about every excuse in the book. Tariffs. Supply chain snarls. Material shortages. Labor walkouts. Late […]
Your Customers Aren’t Loyal — Stop Pretending
You have to earn loyalty every day with every delivery By Dan Beaulieu Let’s cut through the fairy tale. Your customers are not loyal. They never were. They are loyal only until the next late delivery, the next missed deadline, the next quality failure. Loyalty in business is as fragile as glass—and it will shatter […]
Marketing Isn’t Fluff — It’s Ammunition
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard someone in our industry dismiss marketing as “fluff.” You know the tone — a little smirk, a little condescension, and the implication that “real companies” don’t need marketing. They say: “We make a great product. Our work speaks for itself.” No, it doesn’t. Not anymore. […]