Transient leaders kill culture for reasons you don’t realize
Some organizations go through CEOs and department heads like Kleenex. Today, the average tenure of a CEO is 4.6 years. In other cases, C-Suite leaders rotate out of the organization within 1 or 2 years, and a new leader is installed. And it’s always “This one is the right one – they’re bringing incredible experience/ideas/perspective to the organization.” They try to install a few changes that typically...
June 2023 shows 141 new Industrial Manufacturing planned project with renovations & equipment upgrades remaining constant
IMI SalesLeads announced today the June 2023 results for the new planned capital project spending report for the Industrial Manufacturing industry. The Firm tracks North American planned industrial capital project activity; including facility expansions, new plant construction and significant equipment modernization projects. Research confirms 141 new projects in June as compared to 184 in May the Industrial Manufacturing sector. The...
Increase service department sales by training topics
I recently met with a customer discussing their service technician opportunities and while we were talking about this, we also touched on service technician training topics to help drive additional parts and service revenue. They were specifically looking into ways for their service technicians to quote and upsell additional service and parts opportunities when on a service call or routine PM service. Since it was June and National...
Internal audit
Back in the good old days I used to spend a lot of my professional life auditing equipment dealers and construction companies. Also did a lot of franchise work, which kind of ties in with the OEM-Dealer relationships. I was always fascinated with the full-service equipment dealers because of all the departments they had to manage to make the dealership work, keep the OEM and banks happy while also keeping the customer’s coming back. I...
More sales are made with friendship than salesmanship
Your mom said it best. As a child, when you were fighting or arguing with a sibling or friend, your mom would say, “Billy, you know better than that! Now you make friends with Johnny.” Your mother never told you to use the alternative of choice close or the sharp angle close on Johnny. She just said make friends. That may have been one of the most powerful sales lessons you ever got. It is estimated that more than 50% of sales are...
Common questions on forklift training and trainers
OSHA doesn’t list qualifications for forklift operators, requiring only that the employer certify the operator. The operator need not possess a driver’s license, but must be at least 18 years old under child labor laws. Beyond that, the operator must go through training under a qualified trainer. Unfortunately, OSHA’s criteria for trainers are somewhat vague. Below are some common questions on forklift training. Does OSHA require a...
The Secrets of Visionary Thinkers: Two simple steps to crushing subconscious assumptions
When we think about famous visionary thinkers, we subconsciously assume that they have some magic characteristic that the rest of don’t have or can’t achieve. But in reality, the only magic they have is an intuitive understanding of how to avoid some very common creative thinking blocks. One of those blocks is the Curse of Knowledge, a cognitive bias, or mental shortcut, that all humans’ share. Stuck Inside the Box: The Curse of...