Having worked with many distributors over the years, one observation about many distributor salespeople are that they are customer pleasers. Most are profit adverse. Sure, many are on commission. And many of those commission plans are built around a percent of gross margin but, as soon as a customer hints that they want to negotiate, salespeople are willing to lower the … [Read more...] about Why are Salespeople Profit Adverse?
Training
Better HVACR Sales through Better Sales Coaching
Field level sales management is one of the most challenging roles in the industry, and, in many cases, one of the least effective roles in distributors. Why you ask? Because the people who are placed in these roles typically are: Top producing salespeople who have their process and think others should adopt “their way”. They come into the role with no sales … [Read more...] about Better HVACR Sales through Better Sales Coaching
AD Enters Leadership Training Arena; Association Competition?
AD launched an interesting, and perhaps valuable, initiative that, on the face of it, would appear to target a core element of an association’s value proposition … training. And, it is interesting given that, presumably, a significant percentage of leading distributors within the marketing / buying group are members of various associations. However, AD, like many … [Read more...] about AD Enters Leadership Training Arena; Association Competition?
Understanding Personalities through DISC to Drive Sales and Productivity
Understanding people is integral to success in business. whether it is serving customers, others within your company or managing people. Providing staff with the training to observe behavioral traits that will enable improved interpersonal skills and communications inevitable generates improved teamwork, productivity and can translate into increased sales and … [Read more...] about Understanding Personalities through DISC to Drive Sales and Productivity
Learning to Fly. Why planning sessions fail
If 2021 has taught us nothing it has demonstrated that no matter how much planning a business may undertake it is impossible to account for the limitless number of unknowns all taking aim at destroying the best laid plans. Every sales plan is always at risk of market realities changing the assumptions. What made 2020 and 2021 so unique was the sheer size of the impact to the … [Read more...] about Learning to Fly. Why planning sessions fail
Getting Heard. Podcasts Deliver Thought Leadership
Two of the biggest marketing trends over the past year have been the increased usage of video and the launching of podcasts. The reason – a desire to share more content and capture attention. Video usage has skyrocketed as it becomes the new “face to face” (F2F) medium and it is a means to highlight product application. Podcasts are a means to share thought leadership … [Read more...] about Getting Heard. Podcasts Deliver Thought Leadership
Changing Role of Sales
It’s been almost seven months (March) since COVID exploded into the electrical industry. It’s been a roller coaster road for many with everyone expecting the business to fall off the side of the earth in April. And the role of sales has been the most disrupted. In the first 30-45 days many companies instituted workforce changes (furloughs and layoffs). While the … [Read more...] about Changing Role of Sales
Salespeople in Lockdown Could Cost You Share
Recently I visited a manufacturer rep client and spent time with their salespeople. As typically goes, the conversation “wanders” into what they are observing in the marketplace (the benefit of F2F meetings!). The salespeople I was talking to have been visiting with distributors and contractors while observing applicable COVID protocols and, most importantly, being respectful … [Read more...] about Salespeople in Lockdown Could Cost You Share
Are You “Zoomed” Out?
Zoom is now the generic term for webinars. The Kleenex of webinars. Teams may rival based upon usage, but from a lexicon viewpoint it is now Zoom, perhaps because of the media and stock market mentions? Whether you use Zoom, Teams, WebEx, Go-To-Meeting, Google Hangout or the umpteen more of these services, the end result is either another webinar or a meeting. Facetime … [Read more...] about Are You “Zoomed” Out?
The Complicated Rep / Regional Sales Manager Relationship
The relationship between manufacturers and their reps is perhaps the single most important relationship that both can have as it is a synergistic, mutually dependent relationship that impacts the success of both companies. The best are a symbiotic relationship. For many it is a complicated one. It\'s a relationship that depends upon each doing their job to support … [Read more...] about The Complicated Rep / Regional Sales Manager Relationship
