Cold calling is one of the more challenging aspects of selling. As a young application engineer, I was sent to the West Coast for a summer, to fill in as the acting regional sales manager. That experience ended up being…

 Summer is a great time of year, but for those of us that live in “the South” summer can mean extreme heat. Often temperatures are above 90 and in some areas, above 100. In the Southeast and Great Plains, these…

Utilize air travel enough and eventually you will be faced with the dreaded flight cancellation. “Your flight is cancelled” are words that strike fear into the heart of even the toughest executive. Over the years I have seen all types…

Trade shows can be a great networking opportunity. By attending the right trade shows you can meet with existing customers and new customers, check out the competition, mingle with media and catch up with old friends. I was at a…

In many industries distributors can be a key aspect of your channel to market. However, signing up a distributor does not mean sales will just happen. It takes work by your company to maximize the partnership and associated financial rewards.…

Operational excellence is a long term change in organizational culture that focuses on principles, systems and tools to assure key metric improvement and a sustainable competitive advantage. Operational excellence can effect large differences in the performance of two otherwise similar…