I have to be reading a book of some type constantly.  Sometimes, when I don’t have a new one, I pick up an older one and revisit it.  I did that this week with a book by Dan Arielly called “Predictably Irrational“.  As it is subtitled, the book talks about “The Hidden Forces That Shape […]

(****Update*****2/6/2014.  I received a couple comments that sediment in older wines is normal, which is entirely true.  This wine was not a 7 year+ bottle, so the yeast/protein sediment they referred to would not be normal for a 2011 bottle.  Crystalline sediment may be normal if they use a more traditional process that doesn’t filter […]

By Ron Devoe Successful Sales Consulting A phrase often quoted from the Bard is “a rose by any other name is still a rose.” While it does not roll off the tongue quite as well, it can be said that a rep by any other name is still a rep. For over three decades, I […]

One need not envision a distant future of me-too products and companies vying for market sales when considering the future of the AVL industry. Our future is upon us and the end of features and benefits has already slipped past, like a buoy fading with the Doppler effect of time on the sea of sameness. […]

There are so many good points to using energy efficient products as one of the most cost-effective, simple and quick ways to reduce energy consumption and lower green house gas emissions. The ICT industry is ripe with tools, products and software capable of proving out these efficiency gains. Companies are falling over themselves to show […]

Your business is in a whirlwind of growth and is spiraling, looking for some way to use technology to stabilize the vortex. All of a sudden, you find yourself in a strange land of AV full of unfamiliar and inconspicuous players. Somehow, you assemble the proper combination of Brains, Heart, and Courage that it takes […]

In my most recent blog, I discussed how the lack of empowerment can cripple a sales team and how the root cause could be higher up in the chain of command than you may actually think. I also mentioned how the fix to this type of problem and many other organizational issues can be found […]

POWER – It can be given without loss. It has been said that there is power in choice. I believe this holds true whether you are giving choices or exercising them. The result will always be some form of shared and transferred power. One example of such power transferred through choice is when you need […]

Well, as happens many other times, I drew inspiration for this post from a fellow “Blog Squadder”, Lee Distad.  (That’s “Blog SquaDDer” as in Blog Squad Member as opposed to “Blog SquaTTer”, which is someone who reserves a bunch of WordPress addresses that may be popular and sits on them). Lee wrote about sales pitches, […]

Picture this: You’re shopping for a new car. You have a vacation road trip coming up, and you really want new wheels. Your friends have recommended that you look at a couple of cars, at a couple of different dealerships, at a couple of different manufacturers. You approach a salesman at one of the dealerships, […]

Last week I was talking with a rep I had just met from another channel. He mentioned that he had been employed with the manufacturer for almost four years now. These days that makes him a rarity on two counts: working directly for a manufacturer rather than a distributor or agent, and holding the same […]

Sharp sunk further in the fiscal year that ended in March and it has surrendered more control to its creditors in an effort to revive its businesses. As outgoing chairman Takahashi told reporters in Japan [source: DowJones Newswires], “We need to say goodbye to the Sharp that we knew in recent years. We need to be ready […]

Wireless Ronin Technologies today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. Revenue in the first quarter of 2013 was $1.4 million as compared to $1.8 million in the same year-ago quarter. The decrease was primarily due to reduced Chrysler development and content orders associated with iShowroom. Recurring revenue in the first quarter of 2013 […]

Editor’s note: ProAV integrators doing digital signage, you can use this information as a tool to help sell your systems for retail applications. A recent research project undertaken with the goal of understanding the effects of digital signage on non-gaming sales and offers in a casino environment sheds important light on the role of digital signage in […]

For the seventh quarter in a row, Sony lost money. Never in the history of the company has its outlook been so bleak. In the company’s latest quarterly report, losses amounted to $194 million — that was a few million dollars less than the last quarter — but it’s a loss. It’s in the midst […]

Barco announced today that incoming orders booked in 4Q 2008 were at 203.9 million euro, up 11.1 percent compared to 4Q 2007. Sales declined to 207.9 million euro, down 6.6 percent compared to the same period of 2007. EBIT for the quarter was minus 24.2 million euro after restructuring and impairment provisions. Before the same […]