The Silver Lining in Advice Articles

Some months ago, I discussed some bad advice that was being promoted by some industry experts. Your response was overwhelming. Many of you described other situations in which you did not receive realistic solutions to your problems. But sometimes even bad advice can...

Contingency Planning Part II

The most important element of effective inventory management is to meet or exceed your customers’ expectations of product availability. To achieve this goal, you must depend on your vendors’ ability to reliably replenish your inventory. But your vendors aren’t always...

Contingency Planning

Your organization utilizes people, equipment, inventory and other assets to serve customers.  Almost every day these three elements work in harmony to generate profits.  They may work so well that your management is lulled into a false sense of security.  But what if...

Are You in Business for the Glory or the Money?

I literally grew up in a family-owned industrial distribution business.  My dad (Norman) was a great guy and a fantastic salesman (in the best sense of the word).  He was always in motion and wasn’t happy unless everyone else was as well.  There was constant noise and...

Can Salespeople Be Replaced by Technology?

Last week management at JC Penny stated that within the near future RFID (radio frequency identification) bar code labels will be attached to all of their merchandise in all of their stores.  These “intelligent” labels will allow a store to track the exact location of...