I sold machinery for 22 years and now sell myself as a consultant. I used to read a lot of books and listen to a lot of motivational tapes on how to be a better salesman. They really do work. They helped me a lot.
If I had to pick one thing that a successful salesperson does and that the moderately or un-successful person doesn't do, it's this: ASK FOR THE ORDER!!!!!
A lot of different ways to do this and phrase this but it is amazing how many times salespeople fail to do this and then can't understand why they didn't close the sale.
So something that jumped out at me from the interview was this:
AP: Can you tell me a little bit about how that came about?And there was this with the Italian Primo:
TRUMP: No, just — you know, I asked the government to let her out. …
TRUMP: You know Obama worked on it for three years, got zippo, zero.
AP: How did you hear about this story?
TRUMP: Many people, human rights people, are talking about it. It’s an incredible thing, especially when you meet her. You realize — I mean, she was in a rough place.
AP: Did you have to strike a deal with (Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah) el-Sissi over this?
TRUMP: No. No deal. He was here. He — I said, “I really would appreciate it if you would look into this and let her out.” And as you know, she went through a trial. And anyway, she was let go. And not only she, it was a total of eight people.
TRUMP: He’s going to end up paying. But you know, nobody ever asked the question. Nobody asked. Nobody ever asked him to pay up. So it’s a different kind of a presidency.President Trump has been a salesman all his life. You may or may not like what he is selling but he has been a master of it. He knows that the most important part of the sales process is knowing to ask for the order. Knowing how and when is important but the most important is asking.
We saw that in his campaigning style. He went out among the people and asked for the order (their vote) Loser-loser Hillary couln't be bothered. She could have had Wisconsin for the asking, probably. She didn't ask.
Ya don't ask, ya don't get.
April 24, 2017
Trump asked.
Here's John Henry in the comments to the post on Trump's interview transcript:
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75 comments:
Trump is an instrument of political hygiene.
He's right, but then John Henry usually is right.
TRUMP: No. No deal. He was here. He — I said, “I really would appreciate it if you would look into this and let her out.”
I think foreign leaders want to be on Trump's good side. They never felt a need to be on Obama's good side.
If I had to pick one thing that a successful salesperson does and that the moderately or un-successful person doesn't do, it's this: ASK FOR THE ORDER!!!!!
It worked for Meade...
ABC. Always be closing....
Need an additional tag; closing the sale
The same principle sums up the Ailes/O'Reilly management theory of getting some young stuff.
Dat ole Devil The Donald has grabbed the world by its pussy. NATO , China, Lockheed, Boeing, Ford, Carrier, He is snatching winning deals for the USA just by asking.
First you make them feel safe. Then you steal a kiss. Then you let them make the plans. This being a man is actually easy.
Another important maxim of sales: when you get to yes, stop.
Ask and ye shall receive.
... I'll feel really, really bad if a lot of these things are solely because previous administrations never asked.
"Hey, could you free the people you've wrongly imprisoned."
"Oh. Sure! Yeah. We'll get on that."
Another important maxim of sales: when you get to yes, stop.
One of my favorite novels was by John P Marquand, now forgotten. It was called, "Sincerely, Willis Wayde," and I'm glad to see it is out in Kindle format. One very good section is on the old boss telling his young assistant how to sell. He talks about how learning to sell is a critical skill. He also says, "Once you get the order, get your hat and get out."
Marquand often looked down on businessmen, as he does in this novel, but his picture was pretty adequate. His most famous was "BF's Daughter," not one of my favorites.
This *may* be one slight advantage Trump has. He's not a politician. So the whole, "you must do a three-month long kabuki" school of diplomatic relations if foreign to him. He much prefers just sitting down with a foreign leader and chatting off the cuff. That's dangerous sometimes. But it can produce breakthroughs like this. I'm an opponent of Trump but I'll give him kudos for getting her out.
As a trial lawyer the "sit down and shut up when you just won the case" becomes second nature. But my wife still likes to try and add some more reasons she wins. Then she then has to prove those too or lose.
The wife and I seldom argue, but she is a good sounding board. And we never argue any where else. We are Mr & Mrs Sweetness. She sometimes says suppose our Church friends heard you say that. But I remind her they never have nor will they.
Spicey has to do it in Public.
Apologies for the double posting, but I think it's relevant, especially given the context of the Feynman quote (he learns from a "Master"--and in some respects, Trump is one).
-----
"Ya don't ask, ya don't get."
As Richard Feynman learned, and Trump has always known, "you just ask them?"
"Thomas P. O'Neill learned two great lessons from his first campaign. One lesson was learned on the last day of the campaign from his high school elocution and drama teacher, a neighbor who lived across the street from his residence. On that fateful day, Mrs. Elizabeth O'Brien approached the aspiring politician and said "Tom, I'm going to vote for you tomorrow even though you didn't ask me." O'Neill was puzzled as he had known Mrs. O'Brien for years and had done chores for her, cutting grass, raking leaves and shoveling snow. He told his neighbor that "I didn't think I had to ask for your vote." She replied "Tom, let me tell you something: People like to be asked."
By the way, the second lesson Tip O'Neill learned was from his father, after not doing as well in his own neighborhood as he had in the rest of the district, where he campaigned much harder: "All politics is local."
Yeah, it does work. A few years ago, I had a neighbor who was a friendly black woman with two teenage daughters and a couple of times I helped them shovel snow off their uphill driveway. When one of her daughters got out school, she got a job selling expensive valcum cleaners and the daughter ask me if she could demonstrate it for me so I got in a situation where I was feeling obligated to buy but finally I told her that while I would like to help her, I didn't want to buy an expensive valcum cleaner. After a moment of silence, she reminded me that I'd said that I'd like to help her so maybe I could just give her some money. I wasn't expecting that but I thought to myself that she had the nerve, the brass to ask and giving her some money was a lot better than buying a valcum cleaner so I gave her some money. An ultimately successful transaction for both of us.
"He told his neighbor that "I didn't think I had to ask for your vote.""
-- Trump got a lot of votes, in critical states Clinton go to at all, probably just because he said, "Hey, how could it be worse? Please vote for me."
Think. Trump's entire presidency may hinge on the fact he asked people to vote for him, even with a flimsy, stupid reason, and Clinton expected people ought to vote for her.
I was just discussing Trump's style with my husband and a friend. I said the MSM doesn't get Trump because he does not talk like a politician or a lawyer, he talks like a salesman. He does not carefully parse his words - often you have to listen past the "puffery" of what he's saying to get what he means. But, when he wants to get right to the point - he gets right to the point.
It's not sales it's accounting: Neglect the payables. Worship the receivables.
"He does not carefully parse his words - often you have to listen past the "puffery" of what he's saying to get what he means. But, when he wants to get right to the point - he gets right to the point." Right. This is also why many of us here reacted adversely to Trump as bullshitter, in the Frankfurtian sense of not caring about the truth rather than lying. A lot of salesman talk is patter and puffery, a cloud of feel-good, self- or product-aggrandizing BS, not meant as meat for a Gadamerian grinder, but which nonetheless has a point, obscure though it may be to people who prefer a logical presentation on the order of Aquinas or Kant or, if need be, a Young Hegelian.
Salesmen are successful communicators. That's all. As the post related. Ask for the sale. It is always getting the customer to re-affirm the positive. an example, non salesmen think price is the driving force, it's not. But it is always an objection to overcome, Its easy, I just point out other things the customer buys and ignores price. (Pols call it finding common ground). The difference between pols and salesmen, is pols dont sell. They get elected, thats the metric for success. Salesmen sell or starve. I have been repeating this since the Iowa Cauci. Trump is always prepping the buyer for the sale, or closing the sale. Trumps metric for success is different than any President since who? Eisenhower? Trump is results oriented. The only way politicians measure success is getting and staying in office, results are for losers.
It will never cease to amaze me that people that have been predicting the failure of Trump since he annouced, are still taken seriously about how President Trump must change or fail. The have been wrong since June of 2015. Somehow the pundits say President Trump is wrong, and yet the pundits have been wrong for almost 2 years, and the refuse to investigate why President Trump is successful, despite not following the script.
Roger Kimball on the difference between Obama's rhetoric and Trump's:
"I am going to leave to one side what might be the largest difference: that Obama was above all a man of lofty-sounding rhetoric, at once pragmatic in tone and utopian in aspiration, while Trump is a man of demotic and sometimes involuted rhetoric but decisive, almost impatient action. . . .
Mark the difference.
Obama ordered the liberation of terrorists to secure the release of an anti-American army deserter whose desertion cost the lives of at least six army soldiers who had been sent to look for him. Trump hears about the plight of a US national, uses a behind-the-scenes diplomatic initiative as an occasion to secure her release, and celebrates it at the White House."
"He does not carefully parse his words - often you have to listen past the "puffery" of what he's saying to get what he means. But, when he wants to get right to the point - he gets right to the point."
The Lightworker is back in the country (quick, slap him with a subpoena!) and I heard a bit of him speaking in Chicago. Listening to Trump so much lately, I was struck with Obama's halting style. Back in the beginning, people thought it was the mark of a brilliant, thoughful man. Eight years in the White House pretty much dispelled that notion for me.
I've been in sales. And one of the differences between success and lack thereof is asking for the sale. I always told other sales people no one ever was "just looking" at major appliances. If they don't need a new one, they want a new one. You need to get them to say yes, to give themselves permission to buy it when they don't actually need it.
non salesmen think price is the driving force, it's not. But it is always an objection to overcome, Its easy, I just point out other things the customer buys and ignores price. (Pols call it finding common ground).
Way way back, the most valuable course I ever took was a sale course from a company that I was working for when they moved me from back office to front line sales. It was a 6 week course of full days learning sales techniques. They put us up at a very nice hotel and we were immersed for 6 full weeks. I used these techniques for year not just in my professional life but in my daily life.
Overcoming objections is important but, more important was discerning the buying triggers. What motivates people to buy something. It isn't always the same motivation. For some people it is price. Others are(in no particular order)
1. status/prestige of owning the item. Will your friends be impressed/jealous
2. technology, is it new improved model, cutting edge?
3. functionality. How does it work? and tied into that
4. reliability. Not only does it work but will it last. Is it safe?
5. esthetics. How does it look. Is it pretty, blend with your style
6 cost. of course. actually some people want to buy the most expensive because it goes with #1 prestige
The sales person first establishes some commonality with the customer. You live in X town? I know people there? You have a dog. Wow..me too. This gets the client to see you as a real person and vice versa
During fact finding you find out which trigger or combination of trigger is important to the client and then switch your sales presentation to reflect that. The person who cares about looks and prestige, is NOT going to be interested in you telling them all about the technical details of the item and vice versa
A good sales person can sell anything to anyone using these techniques.
This difference in selling triggers is probably why people who don't like Trump, will never understand why the voters, who supported him, bought his candidacy. He wasn't selling to those people who were never ever going to buy his product (himself). Why waste the time? Trump sold to those who bought, using the appropriated pitch and by knowing what triggers to pull.
This is why Hillary was such a flop. She didn't adjust her pitch at all. Tone deaf to the very end.
appropriate not appropriated,
The real sales challenge comes from selling to a couple. One person may be a #1 and #5 prestige and looks, while the other is all about #4 and #6. Reliability and cost.
Wife wants the teal green mid century modern sofa and the husband is how long is this leather gong to last and what!!! on the cost. Your challenge is to try to sell to both of them at the same time. OR..figure out who has the ultimate power and sell more to that person without really pissing off the other.
Fun times.
If I can get you that price, would you take it today? Used Car Sales 101
"appropriate not appropriated,"
The Ferengi Five Stages of Acquisition:
1. Infatuation
2. Justification
3. Appropiation
4. Obsession
5. Resale
(seemed appropriate)
"OR..figure out who has the ultimate power and sell more to that person without really pissing off the other."
Usually the wife unless you are in a hardware store. There aren't any hardware stores anymore. The closets is HOme Dept but that is not the same.
I miss hardware stores. My father bought my first gun for me from a hardware store. I was 9.
Closest... Damn autocorrect.
Ann, I am honored. My very own tag? It doesn't get much better. Now if I can just figure out how to monetize it I can retire to a tropical island! Oh, wait. I don't want to retire and I already live on a tropical island.
Gospace said "If they don't need a new one, they want a new one."
To build onto that, ALL sales are based on want, not need. Nobody ever buys something because they need it. We only actually do things because we want it. Needs often drive wants but unless the need can be converted into a want, no sale will take place. Ever. We might have needed what Loser Hillary was selling. (I doubt it but for the sake of argument) For a variety of reasons, she could never make us want it.
Trump made us want what he was selling and we bought it.
DBQ mentions "cost" and it is probably not her intention but many customers and sales people get confused by the difference between "cost" and "price" If I buy a new car for $20m, that $20m is the price. The cost is how much I pay over the period of ownership. That may be in tangible stuff or it may be in intangibles.
The $15m car has a lower price but may cost more in repairs and operating expense. It may cost more in lost time taking it to the shop. It may cost more in reduced satisfaction from owning a less luxe car.
When I sold machinery, I was seldom the low bidder and did lose some orders on price. But I still got a lot of them because 1) I told them that buying from me was like being married to me. They could call me at 3AM and I'd pick up the phone and 2) When downtime costs $10,000 or so an hour, reliability and uptime is worth a lot.
Each 2 percentage points of increased efficiency is equal to an extra week of annual production.
A couple people alluded to it before. Alex Baldwin won an Oscar for a 6 minute sales pitch in Glengarry Glenross and it was the only thing he did in the movie. I still watch it about once a month. All I can say is "Amen brother. Preach it."
John Henry
"Closest... Damn autocorrect."
I turned mine off. It inserted more mistakes than it fixed.
Blogger Bob said...
If I can get you that price, would you take it today? Used Car Sales 101
Actually sales, 101. Though the smart salesperson never budges on actual price. If you do it looks like you were cheating them to begin with.
But we can throw in the free rustproofing! Or next day shipping, or free service or something else. other than lowering the price.
It works out to the same thing but people feel better about it.
The negotiating price is something that everyone HATES! HATES! HATES! about buying new or used cars.
John Henry
@DBQ - exactly how things played out for us with a new bedroom set and sectional in December. #1 vs #4. The salesman quickly figured out that who was the real decision maker, so essentially cut me adrift. I ended up just following them around. Until it came time to pay. I asked to see other furniture. She kicked and told me it would be perfect. Of course she was right - it was perfect. She loved the salesman, so looked him up when we went back in January for the bureau and mattress, and then referred her daughter's mother-in-law to him for a sectional (which, I suspect, she had to get because we had one).
I have to believe that I make some of the decisions. For my parents, the theory was that my father made the decisions out of the house, and my mother made the ones inside. Which kinda worked for cars (until he had a knee replacement and bought a luxury sedan with an automatic transmission with "her" money). But she did essentially design the floor plan of the house they built 55 years ago, and picked the one bought 30 years ago, though my father kinda negotiated a little on both. So, with the new house, that was supposed to be mine (hers in the MT house), I did the research up front, and found a floor plan that I thought that she would like. And made sure that she saw the other comparably sized and priced houses by that builder, knowing that she would reject them. So, I got mostly the floor plan I wanted, but she got to pick the color scheme, etc. Well, I still have vehicles, guns, and computers. At least as long as I can keep her out of the Mercedes showroom.
Michael K said...
I miss hardware stores. My father bought my first gun for me from a hardware store. I was 9.
4/24/17, 1:08 PM
Old (like 30 years old) ACE Hardware stores are great. We have one near us that I could spend hours in. They always either have the exact thing I need or they can help me cobble together a suitable substitute.
And they have a couple of old cats that hang around inside the place...
I hate the idea that I manipulate her in regards to buying things, esp higher ticket items. In an earlier time, it wouldn't have worked. She was an inveterate shopper, and wouldn't buy anything big until she had spent weeks or months doing research. But now, I can take advantage of her inability to do much shopping. So, instead of looking at 20 houses, we only looked at 3 or 4, of a builder she had bought from before. Her washer/dryer approval was in passing, as I steered her by the marked down floor model refrigerator I had my eye on, that matched her requirements of doors and color. Saved maybe $1500 on that one (which is far less than I spent on that bedroom set).
One of the things that I am learning far too late in life is that you don't want to give your sales targets too many choices. This was a problem when I was in a big law firm, and would give clients too many options. Drove some of the other IP attys crazy. And, I never asked for the sale. That was also probably why I bombed out of insurance sales 40 years ago. Went to work then for the father of one of my best friends, when he did. And that was something that this friend knew instinctively (maybe because his father managed a bunch of insurance salesmen). He can talk to anyone about anything, and does. But if you listen carefully, he asks for the sale in the midst of his ramblings every 15-20 minutes. Which is why he is is still (very successfully) selling insurance 40 years later, alongside other financial products.
By the end of this year folks will basically tune out of what Trump says about things. The old adage, "would you buy a used car from this guy?" will apply.
We have both Ace and True Value hardware stores in town in MT. Ace is far better. (No guns there, but probably ammo - but everyone sells ammo around there). But big purchases usually are from Home Depot in Sandpoint or Missoula. And in AZ, Home Depot is about a half mile away, while Ace is maybe 3 miles further west. So, if I am looking for something, I try Home Depot first, and if it is weird or hard to find, then continue west to the Ace hardware. The only thing recently that I couldn't find at Home Depot, that I could find at Ace were keys for my Tahoe. The problem with having Home Depot so close is that I am through there 2 or 3 times a week.
Now if Trump can ask about Americans held as political prisoners in Turkey, Iran and North Korea.
That was too much actual work for the Lightbringer.
Original Mike: I think foreign leaders want to be on Trump's good side. They never felt a need to be on Obama's good side.
No one ever feels a need to be the good side of their boot-licking house boy.
But if you listen carefully, he asks for the sale in the midst of his ramblings every 15-20 minutes. Which is why he is is still (very successfully) selling insurance 40 years later, alongside other financial products.
@ Bruce
Yes. Not too many choices...also not too few. My job as a financial advisor was to winnow out the inappropriate or superfluous choices. Too much choice gives the clients vapor lock. Ask for the sale either directly or indirectly. Then the biggest and hardest thing for a sales person to do. Know when to shut up! Stop talking!!!
Trump is something that we haven't seen in politics in a really long time. A NON politician. As a business man and sales/deal maker people who are into the status quo, don't know what to make of him.
I am happy he is there.... and hopeful that he can change the path and the atmosphere in Washington and in politics in general.
I would add that it matters who is asking. When Obama asked, world leaders knew they didn't have to listen. He was a wimp. When Trump asks, they listen carefully. He's not only much more assertive, he's unpredictable. He just might decide to make a big deal of some little thing.
I want to see Trump wearing a "COFFEE IS FOR CLOSERS, ONLY!" T-Shirt.
Quote: "The Lightworker is back in the country (quick, slap him with a subpoena!) and I heard a bit of him speaking in Chicago. Listening to Trump so much lately, I was struck with Obama's halting style. Back in the beginning, people thought it was the mark of a brilliant, thoughful man. Eight years in the White House pretty much dispelled that notion for me."
VP Cheney taught me about that technique. While he is smart, he sounds even smarter by talking in fits and starts. It gives the impression that he's carefully considering his words. He knows so much, he could say ten things on this topic but must reduce it to just one.
With Obama, it's just a mannerism, probably picked up as a law school lecturer. Talking like that, he discovered, mean students asked less questions that he couldn't answer. Some may have thought him profound. Most probably realized he was clueless.
DBQ wrote:
"Yes. Not too many choices...also not too few. My job as a financial advisor was to winnow out the inappropriate or superfluous choices. Too much choice gives the clients vapor lock."
I think that's the secret of stores like Trader Joes. You don't get a choice of 30 different kinds of spaghetti sauce. Here are 4 different TJ brands. Pick.
I remember a Soviet émigré telling me that when she arrived here, she would stand paralyzed in grocery aisles for a half hour, overwhelmed by all the choices. An entire aisle filled with soda - what brand to get?
I feel that way myself sometimes when I'm tired and in one of the mega-market stores with vast aisles filled with all sorts of crap -which is why it's a good idea to take a grocery list with you and stick to it.
Like I always told my daughter, make them tell you no.
Great observations all around.
Interesting that Glenngary A-B-C Alec Baldwin is the go-to Trump impressionist.
Readering has no idea of what we are talking about.
By the end of this year folks will basically tune out of what Trump says about things.
They don't get it. You know where the most expensive food around is ? Whole Foods. And it is full of hippie types.
There is a whole literature in decision theory about making choices. The New England Journal had an article a few years ago about NSAIDS for arthritis. There are 50 types and twice as many brands. If doctors prescribed a single brand the patient was far more likely to actually buy and take the medicine. If they were offered several brands, they were much less likely to choose one.
Car salesmen must learn that on day one.
My sisters tells of running into a guy(!) working at the fabric store a few years ago after the financial meltdown. He was upwelling notions and accessories, zippers, buttons, ribbons, and anything he could think of. Turns out he used to sell cars but had been laid off. Selling is selling!
Asking works in other places too.
Next time you check into a hotel ask 'Are there any special deals you can tell me about?' While most times the answer is 'no', every now and then you get 'Well ... as a member of you can get X% off you room rate. Would you like me to apply that?"
No harm in politely asking.
John Henry,
It gets better. You've been Insta-Linked!!
John Henry, I'm curious, what type of machinery are you talking about?
Matthew Sabian: ... I'll feel really, really bad if a lot of these things are solely because previous administrations never asked.
You know, that's almost certainly what happened. But the context matters as well. Trump was hosting a meeting about other things important to both of them. In that context, this request was hard to refuse, especially since her prolonged detention without trial violated Egyptian law. It would have made Al Sisi look weak to refuse. He really had nothing at all to lose in fulfilling this request.
I think the O admin didn't do this because they just didn't know what to do about a refusal, and the relationship between the O guys and the Al-Sisi admin was trashed in the beginning, and never seriously reworked.
Usually the wife unless you are in a hardware store. There aren't any hardware stores anymore. The closets is HOme Dept but that is not the same.
I'm fortunate in that I live about a mile from Durst Lumber, Berkley, Michigan, which is an Ace store, but carries just about anything you'd need for a project or to fix something. If Durst doesn't have it, Frentz Hardware, in Royal Oak, maybe 3 or 4 miles away, will almost certainly have it. If Frentz doesn't have it, you need a commercial supplier, if it's a fasterner, Motor City Fastener or Darling Bolt.
I once wondered how a store like Durst or Frentz can make money selling you individual screws or nuts for pennies a piece. Then I looked at the price of a box of 100. Those individual screws have the highest margin in the store.
Michael Caine has a great gag, where when people ask him about acting he says,
"The key,
to great acting,
is to never,
say any more,
than three words,
at one time."
It's hilarious - and then you watch him play Alfred in the Batman movies and that's exactly what he does, a pause after three words. William Shatner does it too in the early Star Trek.
Once you learn it, you can never unhear it.
In negotiating terms, this is called a 'tip'. It's something that is very easy for one party to do that serves only to 'enhance the mood' of the negotiation.
In response, Egypt gets nothing more than Trump's 'appreciation.' But his appreciation is pretty nice.
If you want to learn more about Trump and negotiation, I advise picking up a copy of 'Don't Be A Chump! The Princeton Review Guide To Negotiation.' You can get a used copy on Amazon for pennies and it will be one of the best books you ever read to understand how people act and how to negotiate.
Charlie Martin has a post on pajamas media making this very point.
Trump is always closing, is how he put it.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/04/15/what-is-trumps-deal/
Blogger I Callahan said...
It gets better. You've been Insta-Linked!!
Wow!
If I had suspected that Ann was going to feature me so prominently, I would have been sure to mention my Packaging Machinery Handbook (Available through Ann's portal) in the original note.
Now I am doubly sorry I did not.
But an InstaLink? How cool is that. I'll be insufferable for the next few days. Or more insufferable depending on point of view.
John Henry
Exiled quoting Roger Kimball -
"Obama ordered the liberation of terrorists to secure the release of an anti-American army deserter whose desertion cost the lives of at least six army soldiers who had been sent to look for him. Trump hears about the plight of a US national, uses a behind-the-scenes diplomatic initiative as an occasion to secure her release, and celebrates it at the White House."
Wow! And there's the difference. The terrorists closed the sale and Obama crowed that he bought what they were selling. I didn't think of it in these terms before, but now that we have Trump for a counter example, the difference is stark!
Thanks Exiled!
Obama was pretty much the antithesis of a salesman. He thought he was above retail politics and negotiation.
Allen S,
Automated manufacturing machinery. Mainly packaging machinery but also processing and assembly machinery, a bit of robotics. Sale size ranged from $25m to $250m, mostly in the $50-100m range.
I was an independent manufacturer's representative which means that all expenses were my own and I got straight commission on sales. I had expenses every month. I didn't have a sale every month. That was the hardest thing to get used to when I went from a job with a bimonthly paycheck to feast or famine. I did well at it but the cash flow was very lumpy.
I sold that business in '07 been consulting on manufacturing efficiency ever since. Along with other stuff. You can see more at www.changeover.com or give me a call. My cell is on the site.
John Henry
Blogger Ingot9455 said...
In response, Egypt gets nothing more than Trump's 'appreciation.' But his appreciation is pretty nice.
Well, they now have a favor in the favor bank.
Never hurts to have a few of those in the account the next time Egypt needs some help on something.
I am not saying quid pro quo. Not like the Iran deal appears to have been. It's just about building good relationships.
John Henry
Regarding everyone else commenting upon Trump's handling of the Eqyptian situation - kudos!
I can't imagine Obama just asking for the sale as Trump apparently did. Obama as he nearly always did would have preened and publically stated that world opinion or some such demanded that Egypt release the lady. How could Sisi, an ally, accept that? Obama never asked when he thought he had the advantage (i.e. with allies), he always shamed them with predictable results. He consistently shamed our allies and buckled under to our rivals and enemies. So obvious in retrospect. So craven. A bully in Mom Jeans.
John Henry, for whatever reason, the first thing that I thought about was agricultural machinery, as in "would you buy a used tractor from Hillary Clinton". HA!
Did you sell anything from Doughboy or Domain Industry from New Richmond WI?
I am very familiar with Doughboy and have done some work on Doughboy machines (Now Bosch) over the years. I've been to the Bosch plant in New Richmond where they make the Doughboy flowwrappers. Never been to the actual Doughboy plant which is in the next town over (I think)
Is Domain part of Bosch? I don't recognize the name and when I searched I got a Bosch link.
I did sell Campbell Wrappers for a while. A Doughboy competitor and another fine Wisconsin company. De Pere.
The New Richmond plant is next door to the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. I've been there a couple times to lecture to students in the Packaging Machine Technician program. I can't speak highly enough of the program and the prospects for their graduates.
Also to UW Stout where I am helping develop a Packaging Machinery course for their packaging engineering program.
Trivia question: Did you know that Doughboy got its start with a plastic welding technology to make inflatable kiddie pools? The things you learn reading Lileks.
John Henry
John, I live just north of New Richmond, in Star Prairie. I believe that we had this conversation before. I have a lot of friends who work/worked there.
autothreads said...
Usually the wife unless you are in a hardware store. There aren't any hardware stores anymore. The closets is HOme Dept but that is not the same.
I'm fortunate in that I live about a mile from Durst Lumber, Berkley, Michigan, which is an Ace store, but carries just about anything you'd need for a project or to fix something. If Durst doesn't have it, Frentz Hardware, in Royal Oak, maybe 3 or 4 miles away, will almost certainly have it. If Frentz doesn't have it, you need a commercial supplier, if it's a fasterner, Motor City Fastener or Darling Bolt.
Frentz's is STILL there??? I usta go in there with my father in the early 70s! I LOVED the smell of that place!
John Henry;
If you had to pick one sales characteristic above all others, what would it be?
As long as we've taken a side jaunt into Ask John Henry Obscure Questions... By any chance did you ever work with the late Carl Reiser? He was a packaging engineer for I think almost fifty years. The company kept enticing him not to retire because they had no one with his depth of experience. He was the first packaging engineer I ever met. When the topic comes up, I always think of him.
Trump may be a buffoon but he isn't smug. He expects to have to lay out why the other party should make the deal on the table. Hillary and Obama, because they never really had to make deals, just expected the other party to go along, to buy into what ever fabulous idea they put on the table. Smug. They shouldn't have to explain it, it should be obvious to the other guy. They were used to getting their way with little effort. Both got exasperated when things didn't work out that way when they got on a bigger stage.
I've said this a few times, but you need a new tag: Trump is a People Person.
Not the smartest person in the world, but he's very canny and has lots of people skills.
Another quality of a salesman is persistence. High end stuff is what? 1 in 100? You don't get the one until you talk to 99.
Watch how this goes, we already did. For every never Trumper there were a thousand disillusioned Democrats.
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