On several recent occasions I have been asked to review letters that were being written concerning significant business problems. One business had repeatedly failed to meet a commitment to a major customer and the other was delinquent on payments to its vendors. As I reviewed those letters I recalled some advice I had given to two boys a few...
Business are built on a base of assets; cash, receivables, inventories, patents, trademarks, equipment, and real estate. But in the final analysis, "business is people." Regardless of the level of investment in all your other assets, it's your people who will ultimately determine the performance of your business. I was in the parts/service area...
It was early on a Sunday afternoon and there were very few shoppers around. We happened into a store that sold small electric appliances. One item that we were particularly interested in had a sign that said, "ask for demonstration." We looked around for a sales person. There was just one and he was standing behind the counter engaged in a...
Nobody ever went broke from selling too much. Your company's ability to increase sales is dependent on the development of successful marketing and sales strategies. Strategy is a word that is frequently associated with the marketing function. Marketing includes all those activities that are involved in planning, promoting, pricing, positioning,...
The Saturday afternoon traffic was backed up three or four cars in each direction. The busy intersection was controlled by four stop signs. The car approaching from the opposite direction commenced a left turn. Anticipating passing through the intersection as it completed the turn, we proceeded. A second car from the opposite direction, an...
The customer was doing business at the store for the first time. She had recently met the owner and wanted to patronize his business. The store was impressive, but the employees seemed somewhat indifferent as the new customer browsed through. There wasn't anything particularly wrong, but there just wasn't anything particularly right either....
Salesmanship is the key skill in every business. Whether you are an attorney or an accountant, run a restaurant or a retail shop, in manufacturing or in medicine, the ability to sell is what separates average from excellent. If selling is the key skill, you need to be sensitive to how your product or service is sold. As this story of the "surly...