Tom Schoenauer Jr. is more than happy he heeded the words his father spoke years ago; and not only did he heed those words, but he also took them to heart.

Schoenauer’s father, Tom Sr., served as the vice president of sales for a manufacturer that sold its products through a network of independent manufacturers’ reps. Among his duties in that position were hiring, supervising and paying reps. According to the younger Schoenauer, “Growing up I spent a great deal of time working in the shop. One thing I’ll always remember my father saying when he was writing out reps’ … Read the rest

“Be different.”
“Be remarkable.”
“Don’t be a ‘me-too’ salesman.”

Those are just a few valuable words of advice from someone who knows what he’s talking about.

While Jesse Cole works in a world far away from that of independent manufacturers’ reps, the lessons he’s learned along the way to becoming the owner of two multimillion-dollar baseball teams can serve as a roadmap pointing to success for reps.

In addition to owning the Savannah Bananas and Gastonia Grizzlies minor league baseball teams in the Coastal Plain League, Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and the author Find Your Yellow … Read the rest

The greatest in any field of endeavor have always been great at the basics.

Vince Lombardi, the great Green Bay Packers coach, said football comes down to two things: blocking on offense and tackling on defense, and his great Packer teams spent 80 percent of their time on those in practice. Red Auerbach, who coached the Boston Celtics to eight consecutive championships, had his players practice free throws and shots from very short distances over and over again. Bruce Lee, Pavarotti, Tiger Woods, and all the other greats have always known the importance of focusing on and mastering the basics … Read the rest

Today I’m going to stir the pot a bit.

I want to talk to you about the 80/20 rule and why it doesn’t work. Yep, there, I said it, it does not work. Wait, wait, wait — just give me a minute to explain here. We’ve been conditioned to think that if we achieve our overall sales targets, despite how and who got us there, we can celebrate it as a win. But I’m here to tell you that tolerating mediocrity in a sales team is an empty victory. You still with me? Ok, great, let’s get into the why, … Read the rest

These are incredibly difficult times for salespeople. Competition in almost every industry continues to intensify. At the same time, customers seem to expect more and more service and demand lower margins. Most markets are rapidly changing, and it’s hard to keep up with the changes in technology and products. Covid has produced an unprecedented change in just the last 12 months.

Rapid Change

As a consultant, I work with executives and salespeople in a variety of industries. And almost invariably, during my first interview with a new client, I hear words something like this, “You need to understand that things … Read the rest

Your annual plan in and of itself cannot be the end. It’s really just the start.

Preparing for the year ahead brings many benefits, including those that come via the process of just sitting down and creating one.

Assessing yourself and your business can bring about an awareness that allows you to avoid pitfalls in the upcoming year — because you’ve thought it through and done your research.

Of course, everyone could use an annual plan. But what you need is a really great one.

1. Greater Confidence

Your annual plan helps you enter the year proactively instead of reactively. … Read the rest

If you have ever supervised people, you have been on the receiving end of these questions. If you have ever been supervised, you have asked these kinds of questions. If you’ve had to answer these questions, it’s cost you time and focus, sometimes for hours every week. If you’ve asked these questions, you knew you were doing it, but it was so much easier than thinking.

What kind of questions? Lazy ones. They come in many forms. Some start out with, “Can you help me?” or maybe “I don’t know what to do.” Perhaps they end with, “I don’t want … Read the rest

Speed is a critical element of customer service. Unfortunately, business owners and executives often overlook its importance as they plan their strategies to attract and retain customers and increase their sales. Too often they focus on catchy slogans and increased advertising instead of zeroing in on what really matters to their customers.

Speed matters, and there are several reasons for that. We live in an age of technology, which has in many cases greatly reduced the time it takes us to accomplish a task. That brings with it the need for others — particularly companies we do business with — … Read the rest