Author, speaker and sales expert Tom Reilly blogs about the life of the sales rep. Reilly is an internationally known speaker and expert on value-added selling, and has written several books on the subject, including Value-Added Selling and Crush Price Objections. Reilly also writes INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION's monthly Strictly for Sales column, coaches industrial distributors of all sizes on sales issues and works with some of the largest trade associations in the industry. Visit Tom Reilly's website here. en-us http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428.html?nid=3962 Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. Subject to its Terms of Use May 13, 2008 http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/1170024917.html?nid=3962 I read the other day that in the last recession 15 percent of companies that had not been industry leaders before the recession vaulted to those positions during the recession. No doubt it had to do with business practices, management and preparation. But I do believe part of it had to do with attit… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/620023662.html?nid=3962 I wonder how many companies need to raise prices now because their costs have increased due to soaring energy prices. But they have this great fear that you cannot do this in tough times. When your costs increase and you fail to pass this along to customers, you have effectively discounted. This ma… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/1830022383.html?nid=3962 We are neck-deep in political advertising. And it will be this way for several months. Whew! That’s a depressing thought. As a sales trainer, watching political ads is a real challenge. Why? Because of the negative ads. As someone who is committed to teaching salespeople to take the high g… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/1200020920.html?nid=3962 Does your company suffer from market-share mania? This is an excessive preoccupation with market share. Maybe it’s driven by your suppliers, who are constantly pushing you for volume because they have capacities that cannot idle. Maybe your management team is focused on growing by acquiring ne… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/1510019551.html?nid=3962 I have finally joined the smart phone age, not that I’m a technophobe. I use technology and a lot of it. It’s just that I have always been a scribe. I love writing down things in my organizer. I run my business out of it and that’s the problem. It’s gotten out of hand&mda… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/1890017989.html?nid=3962 The stock market is crazy (crazy good and crazy bad), banks are suffering the effects of bad loans and the media grubs this stuff up and serves it to the public as a daily dose of doom and gloom. The problem? Some people start believing we’re headed for another recession. Heck, I’m writi… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/320015632.html?nid=3962 Giving salespeople the authority to change price is not the way to improve margins. Numerous studies, including my own, have demonstrated that salespeople will discount when the buyer says, “Your price is too high.” Over the past 18 months I have studied top-achieving salespeople, th… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/1800014980.html?nid=3962 I hear a lot of complaints about online bidding and reverse auctions. It’s got me wondering: Is it really worth it? Do you really want to give the world a look at your bottom-line price? Maybe it’s worth it if it cripples your competition, but that raises the question: Are you in busines… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/680013468.html?nid=3962 You can’t judge a book by its cover—or can you? As someone who has been in the business of selling books for the past 20 years, I can tell you that covers do influence potential buyers. The same thing applies to salespeople and dress. The casual movement in business attire has devolved… http://www.inddist.com/blog/280000428/post/740012674.html?nid=3962 So what’s in a sales blog? It could be a clearinghouse for information, an exchange of ideas or a bully pulpit. This one is for salespeople. I will offer some ideas, musings and maybe vent or lament a bit as it relates to sales. I’m eager for ideas, so don’t be a stranger. Contribu…