Author: Art Waskey

The coronavirus outbreak has reminded us all that with adversity comes the challenge to find new ways of approaching our day-to-day lives. This is especially true in our jobs, which often require personal interaction. I am a sales consultant to a machine tool distributorship that has seven salespeople who are now unable to make face-to-face contact with their customers and prospects. The company asked me to help find effective ways for its sales reps to utilize their time in this shelter-in-place world. Stickiness Malcom Gladwell in his book, The Tipping Point, describes times of change, like the one we are…

A Generation X (born 1965-1985) sales rep asked me whether I thought social media was an effective tool for sales prospecting. He found his experience with Facebook, where he spent an inordinate amount of time reading about family and friends, to be counter-productive from a business perspective. As a Baby Boomer (born 1944-1964), I did not grow up with social media but I have grown along with it and could offer the rep some insights. I was recently reminded of social media’s critical importance to marketing when asked by Vicara Books, the publisher of my latest book, how many hits…

A respected friend in his mid-seventies came into my office, dropped into a chair, and asked if I could help him with an emotional dilemma. I couldn’t imagine why this brilliant PhD was approaching me for help. I was humbled and felt a bit inadequate when he asked, “What am I going to be when I grow up?” Thirty years later that question still resonates with me. How many times have you wondered about your future self? Do you think that perhaps, “what you can be when you grow up” is too big a dream or too tall a task…

I hate shopping! Fortunately, my wife, Sandy, enjoys it and is willing to put in the time to make the right purchase at the right price. Whenever I need shirts or pants, she will bring home several selections so I can choose what looks best on me. This personal shopping system works well for casual attire, but I find that buying a suit requires a more concerted effort on my part. Early in my career, I was promoted from sales engineer to sales manager. At that time, the company’s vice president advised me to buy a suit, noting that people…

In 1972, I graduated LeTourneau College (now LeTourneau University) with a degree in welding engineering and began working for a small manufacturing firm as part of its five-person engineering group. My fellow team members were over 40 years old, which seemed ancient to me at the time.  However, I found it rewarding to introduce them to the exciting new ideas I had learned in college, which made the experience enjoyable. Over time, I noticed I did not share the enthusiasm my colleagues had for the work we performed, and this made me anxious. Eventually I approached my manager with a…

Sales professionals operate within broad territories, are tasked with challenging goals and interact with a great many people. Effectiveness as a sales rep, therefore, requires organization — lots of it. As a sales manager and trainer, I am aware of the importance of organization, so I am constantly looking for ways to improve territory management. In fact, I’ve developed key tools designed to help sales reps become more organized and improve their management techniques. The Inspiration Key There is an effective way to inspire even the most reluctant trainees, I’ve found. Early in my career, at Bruce Breier’s seminar, The…