(Blog #21 in the ongoing series derived from a book Harris DeWese wrote several years ago—“A Year of Selling Profitably.”)
I first became involved with print sales in 1982. Starting out, I was confounded by the failure and turnover that I discovered among salespeople.
Most print salespeople that I met in the early ’80s were depressed. They seemed trapped and lonesome in their jobs. They were getting no help from their employers.
- Company owners weren’t training them.
- Sales managers either ignored or abused them.
- The plant personnel were at war with them.
- Customer service people were uncooperative and blamed them for writing poor specs.
The salespeople were often accused of being drunken, lying louts. Gosh it was sad.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Harris DeWese is the author of "Now Get Out There and Sell Something." He is chairman/CEO at Compass Capital Partners and an author of the annual "Compass Report," the definitive source of info regarding printing industry M&A activity. DeWese has completed 100-plus printing company transactions and is viewed as the preeminent deal maker in the industry. He specializes in investment banking, M&A, sales, marketing and management services to printers.