If you prospect for price you are going to get price oriented customers. You are only going to “buy” your way into an account and yes, you are going to set the precedent for the life of that account. So says Mark Hunter in his great new book High-Profit Prospecting published by Amacom. And allow me to […]
Care About Your Customers And They Will Love You For Life
Years ago, when I lived in Milwaukee, there was a great, and wonderful airline by the name of Midwest Express. I loved that airline, it was the one airline that I was proud to be a frequent flyer on. To this day, I still have the leather travel wallet they gave out then you hit […]
Contract Manufacturers: Does Anybody Know Your Name?
Unlike PCB shops where there are now less than 200 left in North America, there are well over 1000 contract manufacturers of all shapes and sizes. Everyone knows the big guys from Celestica, to Flextronics, to Sanmina to Plexus all of them doing hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, but what about all the […]
Yes Virginia, Advertising Does Work…Sometimes
I was listening to the radio, as I drove to the airport last Sunday, when an ad came on about smoke, and carbon monoxide alarms. I was half listening, not really paying attention, since it was not exactly a captivating subject. In fact, I was a little irritated, because I always get irritated, when I […]
Contract Manufacturers Are Not Exempt From Needing Sales And Marketing
For many years now, too many that I want to count, I have been a real pain in the neck advocating that all board shops need marketing, they need to advertise, send out newsletters, hire and manage, measure, and motivate sales people, create forecasts, and account plans and pay attention to their customers’ needs. Interestingly […]
Getting The Most From Walking IPC Apex 2019!
With IPC Apex Expo 2019 coming up next week, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of my ideas for helping visitors who are not exhibiting, but are attending the show. Obviously, we have talked a great deal about how to get the most of your dollars when you exhibit […]
Marketing: Who Needs It?
“Marketing is too important to be left to the marketers”…David Packard Yes, that’s right. Marketing is way too important to be left to just anyone. You don’t necessarily have to be a professional marketer…but you have to take marketing seriously, very seriously. Actually the worst thing that can happen is when people who think they are marketing […]
Let’s Talk Godin
Well it’s the season to give thanks, and one of the things I am most thankful for this year, is that Seth Godin has a new book out. Full disclosure, I am an unabashed fan of this guy Godin, every time I read one of his books, I find myself taking hundreds of notes on […]
Listen To Your Customers, It’s Not Rocket Science
Walk with the customer. Care about him. Make sure that you know what she needs and give it to her. Make sure that he knows that you care about what will make his life easier and provide it. Look the hard sell is dead, if it ever was alive in the first place. Now we […]
Why Are You Going To That Trade Show?
As we turn into 2019 and head towards trade show season, I thought it would be interesting to discuss trade shows, and some of the best ways to get the most use from your hard-earned, trade show spending. First of all, regardless of what everyone seems to think trades shows are not for selling. I’d […]