I went to pick up my mail today and, as usual, stood by the garbage can and unloaded 1/2 of my mail that was squeezed like a sausage into my tiny mailbox. People are looking for sales anyway they can today. So they are resorting more and more to postcards, letters. brochures, and any other, sometimes expensive marketing materials. Where does that end up if I can't use what they are selling? Right in that [...]
In the past I have written mainly for sales people in the interior design industry. I thought I would change it up a bit by writing about another passion, the showroom where many sales people I train work. Over a 25 year career, I worked with four showrooms in the Merchandise Mart, Chicago. I was very lucky to work with some of the most prestigious showrooms in the country as a contract and residential sales person [...]
Here we are, almost at the end of the first quarter 2016. New Year..new start, spring has almost sprung. And yet here's what I am STILL hearing from product companies and showrooms: We had a horrible start to our first quarter. We had a horrible January... February looked better..not sure about March yet. Some of our territories had a great January (bad January) bad February (good February). When I ask why they think that is, [...]
I was doing some crusin' on the internet this morning and it just hit me how many people want me to DO something. They want me to work at something I probably do not want because it just gives me more to do..WHO HAS TIME? Sign up for this, take this survey... tell us how we're doing... get this free fill-in-the-blank... just sign up. You cannot get on a website or make a call without [...]
As I begin my next sales training ecourse with Kravet in New York, I review my presentations and reflect on what has changed in the industry or in selling techniques. Some of the reflection includes methods that I was taught and used for so long that I now realize just don't work anymore, but most still continue to do. I observe it every day. I'm also becoming more aware every day, that this is not [...]
