From the outstanding musical, “The Music Man” to the hilarious movie, “Used Cars,” people in the sales profession have long been saddled with an unfair stereotype. Yet, without sales, few businesses would succeed.
Our economy relies on hundreds of thousands of salespeople that most of us never see, but their skills are responsible for our high standard of living. They call on the buyers who produce and sell… Read More
Sales Professionals Deserve our Respect
The Advantages of Being a Small Start-Up – Part 2
This is the second installment in a four-part series designed to encourage small start-ups by recognizing some of their inherent advantages.
Small start-ups face a myriad of challenges. They are undercapitalized, unproven and have no market traction. They are up against the status quo that will use its established power and influence in the marketplace to suppress any new challengers. Buyers are reticent to take… Read More
Positive Company Culture is critical to Growth and Survival – Part 3
This is the third part in the series about the original Barefoot culture. Culture really sets the tone, boundaries, and expectations the team has toward your company, your mission and your product.
We’ve saved the best for last because having a common cause and a common challenge forges, more than any other single factor, positive company culture.
When you are growing especially a new a brand, something… Read More
Positive Company Culture is critical to Growth and Survival – Part 2
A company survives and grows due to sales and the loyalty of customers and staff. Sales are based on price, value, dependability, integrity, availability and perception. The basis of perception is image, networking, and more recently, the transparency of the producer.
Transparency is what the brand stands for, its authenticity, its identification with higher values, and the actions it takes to demonstrate those… Read More
Beware of “Money Saving” Suggestions from Your Non-Sales Staff
Let’s start by realizing that there are really only two divisions in every company, Sales and Sales Support. Since Sales Support includes everyone not in Sales, Sales Support consists of Production, Accounting, Marketing, and so on. Without sales there is simply no money for Sales Support salaries. Still, Sales needs Sales Support to perform.
The Sales people are doing their job out in the field. The non-sales… Read More
Hire the Old Guy
Does your company suffer from the “not invented here” syndrome? Many companies believe all the answers must originate from within. In fact, most good business principles have been in existence for a long time. Don’t waste valuable time and money expecting your people to come up with all the right answers. They can actually ignore time-tested advice in the process.
There are plenty of opportunities to be creative… Read More
