Case Studies

In the two years it took to centralize sales and customer service, this Central American distributor of packaging machines grew sales at a compound rate of 18%

This is a must-watch interview for Industrial Distributors. In two short years, Emasal totally reengineered its entire front-of-house. Two years ago they had 6 regional offices, each with its own sales and customer service representatives. And, two years ago, salespeople were commissioned, semi-autonomous operators, doing a mix of field and telephone work. Today, Emasal has […]

Case Studies

F12.net Inc grows pipeline by 700% with only 20% of the sales headcount

Here is a fun and super interesting interview with Devon Gillard. Devon is the CMO of F12.net Inc, which is headquartered in Alberta Canada. F12.net Inc is a fast-growing, private-equity-backed, Managed Service Provider. In short, that means that F12 enables mid-sized organizations to outsource their core technology infrastructure (software and—notably—hardware).  As you can see from the […]

Measures and General Management, Slaying Sacred Cows, The Machine (book)

The Machine > Part 1 > Chapter 6: The end of commissions, bonuses and other artificial management stimulants

If it’s true that sacred cows make the best hamburgers, then we’re in for quite a feast! I’ve chosen to close Part One of this book with a frontal assault on the juiciest bovine of all: the unassailable belief that salespeople should be paid commissions. And while I’m at it, I’ll take aim at bonuses, […]

Measures and General Management

Why should selling be optional?

Yesterday was a day of firsts for me. First time in Latin America.  First time presenting via a translator (it worked effortlessly).  And first time I’ve tipped more than $1,000 in a restaurant!  (1,000 pesos equals just $US0.50.) But there was one experience yesterday that I’m well and truly used to: the reaction of workshop […]