When you struck out on your own and started your rep firm you had to decide just how large you wanted to firm to be. Many people just strike out on their own and go solo for a while. After a time once the company has successfully launched they might want to find an appropriate […]
Getting Your Money’s Worth From IPC Apex 2018
Here we go again, you’re heading down to sunny (hopefully, it seems to rain every time I’m there!) San Diego to seek your fame and fortune at IPC Apex 2018. Without a doubt you are investing a great deal of time and money (hotel rooms are about the price of a Fiat!) and you want […]
8 Reasons To Fire Your Principal
Sometimes a rep has to do what a rep has do to. Okay, so now it’s your turn. We have talked enough about making sure that you as a rep make yourself invaluable to your principal. We have gone on ad nausea about the various ways that reps disappoint the companies they represent. So now […]
Sales People: Get With Social Media
Sorry, but you cannot keep ignoring marketing or even social media Remember when we thought it was funny for one of our fellow sales people to say something like,” no I don’t know how to “twit” or “tweet” or “twitter”, or whatever these kids are doing these days.” Or something like, “What is the point […]
Stories From The PCB Sales Frontlines
Did you ever live through something that was so insane, and so stupid that you couldn’t believe it was happening right before your very eyes? I have, and many times. But I’m no different from anyone who has sold PCBs, or anyone who’s spent years in our industry, for that matter. Then, late at night […]
Think Different
Remember when Steve Jobs came back to save Apple from the brink of disaster, and the first thing he did was launch an ad campaign that featured people who changed the world by thinking differently? He featured famous people from Bob Dylan to Albert Einstein to John Lennon and many others all of them bright, […]
8 Ways To Prospect For New Accounts
We all know that companies must grow or they will die. The same thing applies to rep firms. You must keep growing your business, adding new customers, and increasing your sales, or you too will die. Too many times reps will find three or four major customers and then rely on them for their income […]
There Is Only One Way To Succeed And That Is To Always Give It Your Best
One of my favorite sayings is “when you wake up in the morning if you are not ready to change the world, then don’t bother to get out of bed.” Do you ever think about changing the world? Do you ever think about being the best you can be…the best in the business? This kind […]
7 Ways To Make Your Principals Brag About You
If you’re a rep the best way to be successful is to have your principals love you. Sad as it may seem I almost never hear principals bragging about having a great rep. In fact, instead, I hear horror story after horror story about how reps aren’t doing anything, they are not bringing in the […]
Remember Who Is Really Doing The Work
Those of us who have spent our lives in sales, sometimes forget who really matters. As we pursue those elusive orders or solve problems, meet challenges, and soothe angry customers, it is easy for us to forget those who are really doing the work. The ones who are back at the shop, sweating it out […]