Sales quoting mistakes can be incredibly costly for businesses – impacting revenues, customer perceptions, and employee morale. This article is based on a true story of a sales quoting mistake. The names have been changed to protect the individual’s privacy.  Have you ever made a $50,000 sales quoting mistake?  Back a few years ago when the economy was humming, this scenario happened. In 2017, a midwest U.S. firm was quoting on a $250,000 project. They made a mistake – a huge mistake. One of their sales reps, Shelby, delivered a quote to a client that resulted in a $50,000 loss f ..read more

Since it’s inception in 2011, Manufacturing Day encourages collaboration between manufacturers, students, and local communities to learn more about the industry and the important impact of the manufacturing sector on our economy. Manufacturing Day 2020 is not only a day to celebrate a thriving industry, but to educate the future leaders of the manufacturing business. Held annually on the first Friday in October, Manufacturing Day encourages businesses to open their doors to students, educators, and leaders in an effort to advance the field and support the skilled workers.  Manufactur ..read more

Imagine. You are the Regional Sales Manager for a large manufacturer. You’ve got feedback that your firm is uncompetitive because you don’t have modernized tools. Your company needs to make a major change, yesterday. This was the situation at Acme Widgets Inc. They had 35 rep firms, but were losing business to competitors who offered online tools and better customer experience. Everyone at Acme wanted to succeed, but they were too caught up in their own problems to see what was needed. That is, except for Doug Denny. Doug was a Regional Sales Manager at Acme. He saw the handwriting on the ..read more

The benefits of using enterprise software can be quite substantial. Not only for the company, but each member of the team. The right software can synchronize the efforts of thousands of employees. This can give your company a significant competitive advantage in the market and is commonly referred to as a digital transformation. Gartner defines digital business transformation as: “The process of exploiting digital technologies and supporting capabilities to create a robust new digital business model.” In theory, leveraging enterprise software to achieve a digital transformation is a great i ..read more

Digital transformation for an enterprise usually means the company is onboarding some form of web-based software. This could be a CRM, new ERP, CPQ or any other kind of digital solution. But this often is a bigger challenge than most realize and requires the organization to manage the change. Whenever the subject comes up, I like to refer to one of my favorite books – Who Moved My Cheese? Like the book, digital transformation involves change management. I experienced this myself while working in the Yellow Pages industry. We used to manage our leads through business cards, excel spre ..read more

If you had an objective of knocking down 300 pins in a bowling alley, you could practice for years yet never bowl a perfect game. Of course, if you gathered a few friends across all the lanes, you’d easily reach that target. Just like in the bowling alley, sometimes you need to expand your sales strategies across multiple channels to help you reach your goals. Selling manufactured products through the same channels will often get the same results, with little changes to market share or growth over time. But, finding new sales channels can help you scale and boost profitability. What if a ..read more

A recent U.S. Marines recruitment commercial shows a rag-tag group of cadets as they go through basic training. By the end of the 30-second commercial they are fully trained marines saluting in impeccable dress uniforms. If only sales recruiting were so easy and so fast. It can take over two years for a manufacturer to onboard and train a new sales rep. Is there a way to reduce the time, cost and loss of momentum you must go through to make them effective in their role? Here are the 3 common onboarding challenges and how eRep CPQ software can help.  Sales Rep Onboarding Challenge ..read more

Getting a new car quote from an auto dealership is an experience most people find overwhelming. Some even find it adversarial or worse, painful. A 2015 Accenture study of 10,000 consumers worldwide found 75% would rather buy online. Tesla is one auto brand making progress in this area. You can now configure and order a Tesla online. And their satisfaction rating is higher than any other car brand. Would this approach work for B2B manufacturers?  Unlike purchasing a car, B2B buyers get industrial products through complex partner ecosystems. An ecommerce solution may not work but an on ..read more

You can’t overstate the importance of accurate sales forecasting. Especially in manufacturing. Everyone depends on it. From finance, production and sales ops, to supply chain and channel partners.  Without a clear picture of sales outcomes, the company’s budgets, expenses, growth strategies, and resource management can fall apart. At its worst, this can mean significant profit losses, cash flow problems, supply chain delays, even layoffs. If you’re the VP of Sales for a manufacturer with independent sales channels, your sales pipeline is constantly under scrutiny. What does the forec ..read more

In 2019, Amazon surpassed Google and Apple to become the world’s most valuable brand. Now at 280.5 billion in revenue, Amazon is leading the market. But it’s still quicker to pick something up at the mall. Why do an increasing number of people choose Amazon? For starters, Amazon is easier and more convenient. And they provide useful information such as product reviews. So, why not use some of their strategies in your manufacturing firm? It’s possible. But if your products are complex and configurable, you solve that problem first. A solution for this is Configure, Price, Quote software, k ..read more