Building brand awareness can be hard if you aren’t up to date with the latest business tools, including social media. That’s why we’re diving into ways to use Instagram—perhaps the most popular social channel—in order to reach your ideal audience. Instagram is not only a great way to connect, but also a helpful tool for promoting your business…
Read MoreCategory: Distributor News
Using QuickBooks for Multiple Businesses
Question: I use QuickBooks Premier for my distributorship. I also run another small business. Can I use my QuickBooks program for that, too, or do I have to buy Premier again? Answer: You can set up another company or companies in QuickBooks Premier at no additional charge from QuickBooks. You do not have to purchase…
Read MoreWe Were Not Undressing! Putting Some Fun Into Selling
Back when I was growing my original Proforma distributorship, I was teaching one of our newer sales reps how to conduct field calls. In my view, field calling is a lost skill. Sadly, in this day of email and voicemail, salespeople think they don’t need to get out and do field calls. I strongly disagree…
Read MoreThe $500 Million Company With No Headquarters
About 25 years ago, we purchased a great 30,000 square foot office building on a beautiful eight-acre campus. Soon after, I met with the signage company to finalize the wording for our sign. At first it seemed like a no brainer that the sign should read “Proforma Headquarters,” but that wording didn’t align with the…
Read MoreView Everything on One Screen
Question: Is there one screen in QuickBooks Premier where I can look at my open sales orders and invoices? Answer: Yes, QuickBooks has a feature called “Income Tracker” that does just that. Go to “Customers,” then “Income Tracker.” The dashboard shows a current accounting of various income segments. At the top, you will see totals…
Read MoreCustomizing Quickbooks for Promotional Products Distributors
Question: Are there any reports in QuickBooks that are designed specifically for the ad specialty industry? Answer: Unfortunately, there are no ad-specialty-specific reports, but all of the reports on QuickBooks can be customized. And some have been put to good use by distributors. If you have loaded QuickBooks Premier specifying the Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition,…
Read MoreAre You at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone or in the Danger Zone?
Let’s take a quick look at the three zones in which most people operate: comfort, growth and danger: Now, let’s take a look at how these zones apply to your sales efforts. In sales, the accounts that we are most knowledgeable about are in our comfort zone. We are comfortable with their size, and with…
Read MoreCalculator-itis
Let’s talk about what I call “calculator-itis.” My definition of “calculator-itis” is when business owners and sales reps continue to charge customers the same margins year after year without any routine, timely reviews. Continuing to charge customers the same margins over time doesn’t make sense because our value to customers grows as our expertise grows,…
Read MoreCelebrate ‘No’
As business owners and sales reps, we love to hear “yes.” Yes to scheduling new appointments. Yes to earning opportunities for quotes and proposals. Yes to winning new business. We love hearing “yes.” However, business owners and sales reps are going to hear “no” many more times than they hear “yes.” So, it’s time to…
Read MoreI Cut Out the Middleman and I Liked It
I did it. I went direct. I cut out the distributor. I cut out the supplier. I bought directly from China. It wasn’t bad. In fact, it was quite good. Delivery was three weeks. Product quality was excellent. Service was outstanding. English wasn’t a problem. I’ve already ordered a second time. I bought glasses directly…
Read More