Who is in Sales? Everyone Sells.

Sell Yourself All The Time...

Manage Your Manager

...Most Sales Mangers are promoted because they can not sell, but wield a pretty mean Excel spreadsheet...

Know When To Fire a Client

...the customer is NOT always right and your relationship does not need to be a 'master/slave' type...

Know When To Fire Your employer...

...the only boss you need is the one staring back at you in the mirror...your employer works for you, not the other way around...

The Age of the Cubicle is Dead

...technology has finally arrived that allows you to do your job from any place on the planet...do it.

Pages

12.27.2008

Damn The Torpedoes, Fire Your Customers!



Well, just the customers who are wrong, and will not take your advice..

I hope good Admiral Farragut is not spinning in his grave over my adulteration of his famous quote - it just seems fitting, especially when sailing through today's torpedo filled, economic seas.

Ken Stewart has a great post, The Customer Is NOT Always Right! where he expresses the need to steer clear of certain customers and sometimes make a few walk the plank.

But that is just the surface subject of his post.

I read the underlying message as "Know thyself, to thy own self, be true..." - yes, I know, I just mixed The Oracle at Delphi and Shakespeare, but you get the point, hopefully.

In order to steer clear bad customers and to fire clients, we must posses a level of confidence gained after knowing what it is that we do best and who we like to "hang around".

Life is short. Why not surround yourself with clients(or friends, or family members)that have the same ideas and ideals as you?

Makes sense, don't it?

Now, Damn The Torpedoes, march into your Sales Manager's office and tell him you are firing the three most irritating customers you have...er...well...ok, wait...before doing that, update your resume...

Check These Out:

The Death of The Copier Sales Person


The New SalesPerson - Death of the "Close"


A Return to Selling


The Single Most Important Tool In Managed Print Services



Amazon Declares - Best Ever Season???



The Death of Print, maybe a little premature... Until you see that Amazon's best season, has little to do with books. 

 AMAZON called its 2008 holiday shopping season "the best ever," despite a series of predictions that even online sales would weaken as US consumers cut back amid the recession. Amazon said that on its peak day, December 15, it received more than 6.3 million orders, at a record pace of 72.9 items per second. 

 This is a surprise of sorts when viewed through the prism of "recession". Amazon said top-sellers from November 15 through December 19 included Nintendo's Wii, which dominated the videogame category. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Australia

"...Among toys, the best-sellers included Jakks Pacific's Eyeclops night-vision goggles. In the electronics category, Samsung Electronics’ 52-inch LCD High-Definition television and Apple's 8-gigabyte iPod Touch led the gains. Also, a strong seller was Acer's Aspire One 8.9-inch netbook. 

The devices, which have little processing power, screens between nine and 12 inches wide diagonally and typically cost less than $US500 ($729), have been rising in popularity, according to technology research firm iSupply. Among DVDs, Amazon said Wall-E, The Dark Knight for Blu-ray and The Dark Knight sold well. 

Top sellers in books included The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling, and two works by Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Amazon didn't comment on its selling prices or margins for the 2008 holiday season..." 

 Not a mention of books or the Kindle.

12.20.2008

Ford Tells The US, "No Thank you..."


The Model T, the Rouge Plant, and now... 

Henry defined the auto industry - his idea to manufacture a product that his employees can afford to buy, was pure genius. And the employment of ex-cons to secure his family, turned into the downfall of his corporate legacy - maybe. 

The last remaining American hope in the auto industry is Ford Motor Company - can it be a result of the Ford family beginning to buy back stock years ago? Family-owned. Perhaps all the money the family saved with the Lions- will come in handy. Today, Bush ok's a bailout for GM and Chrysler - and Ford said no thanks. 

Defiant Ford. Struggling Ford. Brilliant Ford. GM and Chrysler are pretty much gone - GM and Chrysler must sell their corporate jets. Another requirement of the 3-year loan is to secure concessions from the unions - Ford will piggyback those concessions. The next 6 months are going to be very interesting. 

 Ford's next ad campaign should capitalize on this move - the defiant, remaining American automotive dream. 

 And this was just after the F-150 was named the 2009 Truck of the Year - remember last year it was the Toyota Tundra.

Click to email me.

12.18.2008

It's Called a Free Market - Doesn't Mean Everything is Free of Charge



"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something..." Bailouts are not Loans - did you read your mortgage documents? You did? 

Good, then you know what "ARM" stands for, correct? There is a great post over at the Caskey blog, here it's about Free Markets, recession, and "You, Incorporated." Bill really got me going on the subject of whining and feeling sorry for yourself and how easy it is to become a "victim". Granted, everybody wants to help a victim, even if the circumstances are self-inflicted. But to be perfectly blunt, and a little cold, "victims" are never "winners". 

Victims become winners when they overcome their victimization. The current atmosphere of "bailouts for all of your mistakes..." is nauseating. Because we are now rewarding those who make stupid decisions. We can't call their acts stupid, but we can call them "victims" - and victims are entitled to bailouts. 

The problem is, Free Markets change, demand for skilled labor changes and Change is Painful - Do you still use buggy whips? I imagine there were a few buggy whip manufactures who went out of business when Ford unleashed his Model T; and what about saddle makers, and feed stores? Yeah, yeah, I know, I know..." that was different..." phut! 

Like Bill, I am from the Detroit area - I grew up in suburbia, went to a local university, and Ended up living and working in the high-tech industry all over the eastern side of the state. I have had many lunches at the eatery Jimmy Hoffa was last seen. And I remember the "dark days" of the Seventies when Lee Iacocca went to Washington for a LOAN, not a bailout; a loan that Chrysler paid off early. The Times, they are different... 

 But the whining, the "entitlements" and the blame has festered, grown and spread - there are far, far fewer "You, Inc." people today. 

No more "Rugged Individuals", very few purveyors of Yankee Ingenuity with a Can Do attitude...nope. Tough Times - Wash Away Flotsam I have often said, "I don't participate in recessions." I don't. 

One shouldn't respond out of fear, but most do - and it isn't the sheep responding that are as bad as those who use this to manipulate the scared into believing they can do nothing without "a little help from my friends..." i.e., "the government". Tough times build character - if you win a game after losing one the week prior, the victory is so much sweeter. 

Of course, this assumes you keep score - how many youngsters play football(or any other sport)today and do not keep score, in an effort to save the loser from humiliation? 

The ultimate bailout. By shielding the loser from the pain of loss, we steal and shame away the joy of winning. And we destroy the opportunity to win with grace or lose with honor. If it doesn't matter, why should we recover to come back and fight another day? 

 The Times, they are different...Have all the Americans Gone? This is a great tribute and yet very sad - I fear the Americans that Byron is talking about have all left. 

Today's American whines, and paints his nails with clear polish. 

 Today's American wants to be loved for being "nice" not for being firm.

 
In Bill's article, he says about the You, Inc. mentality, "...You choose where to live, based on your means. You choose what career to pursue based on your interest and ability. You chose your friends. You choose whether you want to go into massive debt or not..." I wonder how many "Americans" view these thoughts as elitist... I wonder how many Americans see these words as treason... Click to email me.