-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueWhat's Your Sweet Spot?
Are you in a niche that’s growing or shrinking? Is it time to reassess and refocus? We spotlight companies thriving by redefining or reinforcing their niche. What are their insights?
Moving Forward With Confidence
In this issue, we focus on sales and quoting, workforce training, new IPC leadership in the U.S. and Canada, the effects of tariffs, CFX standards, and much more—all designed to provide perspective as you move through the cloud bank of today's shifting economic market.
Intelligent Test and Inspection
Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge advancements shaping the electronics manufacturing industry? The May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine is packed with insights, innovations, and expert perspectives that you won’t want to miss.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Selling in a Post-COVID Environment, Part 1
July 21, 2020 | Nolan Johnson, PCB007Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Cole: The biggest thing to do is to lean on your interpersonal skills. I have probably spent more time on the phone in the last two months than I have in the last two years. We’ve all become so used to email and texts that it’s easy to send one of those. What I’ve found within the last couple of months is getting someone on the phone and talking to them to see how they’re doing—having that personal touch—goes a long way in this climate.
Johnson: It’s in our human nature—in times of uncertainty and confusion—to hold up, wait and see, let things settle, and gain some certainty before moving forward. And while that makes sense if you’re caught outside in a hurricane, when that lack of certainty is more of a cultural event, is that the right approach to take in sales right now?
Cole: It’s not. In my case, when this first happened, we left everybody alone for probably a month because nobody knew what was happening. Our customers were all trying to keep products flowing and keep shelves stocked. But after that, in talking with our brokers in areas like Oregon and California that couldn’t go out into stores, we found they could still talk to people. We would get weekly reports from them and find out what’s happening at the store levels. They would say to leave the stores alone, that they don’t want to see or talk to anybody, and that they would let us know as places started opening up again. It was not being in their faces or bothering them because we knew that they were trying to handle this curveball. But once things started opening up again and knowing there was something that you have that they may need to help them, that’s when we started reaching out again.
Johnson: Things are opening up, and you’re reaching out again. It’s not normal, but it’s not a complete crisis. What are the dynamics now? How are you and your brokers being successful?
Cole: Our brokers have been putting together care packages to give to the workers because they’re considered essential workers. Nurses and the doctors are the top-line essential workers, but the people stocking your grocery store and running the cash register are also essential workers. Our brokers have been putting together goody bags to thank them. Those gestures are being noticed by the buying offices and headquarters, and they all appreciate them.
We’re also giving gifts to our broker reps to thank them for the work that they’re doing. Even though they’re not really essential workers, they’re working with the essential workers. We want to thank them for the hard work that they’ve been doing to keep things afloat and staying on top of what’s changing and what’s not during the last few months.
Johnson: Looking at your suppliers, what has changed?
Cole: Our fiscal year ended at the end of March, so we were getting ready to do a forecast for the next fiscal year. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
Johnson: That has to be so difficult.
Cole: Talk about throwing a dart at a dartboard. We’ve had to do our forecast and budget for the next year when it’s like looking in the dark at what our sales are going to be. Knowing the food industry and what happened back in the recession in 2007, the food industry doesn’t get hit that hard, especially our items, because they are more commodity items. Some areas of the food industry do, but we think our sales will not hurt because we’re more on the retail side. Food companies that are more in food services, such as retail or restaurants, are having to shift their model and what they’re doing. It’s hurting them a lot because restaurants, for the most part, have been closed down.
We’ve looked at the future for us, and sales are going to go up some. Because most of our products are imported, and we have to put our orders out months and months in advance, we’ve put out some large orders so that we have products coming in over the next year. We’re going to be able to service all the retail that wants our products. We experienced a few out-of-stocks in March and April. Most of that was because we allocated to give everybody a little bit of product. We ran out of some products because things got caught up at the port. But for the most part, our supply has been okay, and we have enough orders coming in to handle us for the next year.
Part 2 of this conversation with Penny Cole will be published in an upcoming Daily Newsletter.
Page 2 of 2Suggested Items
ViTrox Announces Strategic Partnership with Maxim SMT to Strengthen Presence in India
07/04/2025 | ViTroxViTrox, which aims to be the World’s Most Trusted Technology Company, is proud to announce the appointment of Maxim SMT as its new Sales Channel Partner in India, effective 1st June 2025.
Stop Using Spreadsheets—and You Can Quote Me on That
07/03/2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineMeeting changing business needs and a thriving market sometimes means process efficiencies. Not all those efficiency improvements take place on the shop floor, however. For EMS companies, growth can also mean changing out the business operations software to have one more chance to close a business deal that better aligns with the company’s sweet spot. One of the pressing issues for EMS companies is the great deal of attention on sales and quoting software solutions and how to make them perform better. Chintan Sutaria, the founder and former CEO of CalcuQuote now working on other projects at OpenJar, explains.
Horizon Sales Hosts Successful 2025 Tech Days Event Featuring Live Demos and Cutting-Edge Equipment
06/21/2025 | Horizon SalesHorizon Sales, a premier manufacturers’ representative and distributor for the electronics assembly industry, successfully concluded its 2025 Tech Days event, welcoming more than 60 customers and 21 supplier partners over the course of two engaging days.
It’s Only Common Sense: Why Sales Teams Fail (and How to Fix Them)
06/22/2025 | Dan Beaulieu -- Column: It's Only Common SenseIn sales, success is never a given. Despite best intentions, the most well-resourced sales teams can stumble. Understanding why is the first step toward creating a high-performing sales force. Here are the main reasons sales teams fail—and actionable strategies to fix them.
SolderKing’s Successful Approach to Modern Soldering Needs
06/18/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Chris Ward, co-founder of the family-owned SolderKing, discusses his company's rapid growth and recent recognition with the King’s Award for Enterprise. Chris shares how SolderKing has achieved these award-winning levels of service in such a short timeframe. Their secret? Being flexible in a changing market, technical prowess, and strong customer support.