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Distributor salespeople don’t need me to tell them how bad business has been lately. Thanks to the manufacturing recession that just won’t end, when 2002 mercifully draws to a close, it may turn out to be one of the worst years on record for most salespeople.

At times like these, it’s hard to keep a positive outlook. There is reason for hope, however. As the world witnessed following the events of September 11 one year ago, ours is a nation with an indomitable spirit. We have the capacity to face adversity with a positive outlook that enables us to ultimately prevail. That’s why, while we believe that every issue of Progressive Distributor offers readers practical solutions to real-life problems, in this issue we’ve tried even harder than usual to include stories to help you keep your spirits up even when sales are down.

For example, after reading our cover story “Kaman can," we hope you’ll come away with the same infectious spirit and can-do attitude that seems to permeate Kaman Industrial Technologies and inspires Kaman employees to strive toward excellent customer service.

For those of you who are tired of getting caught in the crossfire of price competition, Richard Buckingham’s piece called “Price wars” provides three keys to turning customers into lifetime clients. For sales managers who are struggling with how to get salespeople to move past excuses and toward increased profits, we offer an article by Bill Blades called “Sluggish sales?”.

When you read Dave Kahle’s article, “Protect your good accounts from the competition," we hope you’ll become motivated to follow his four-step plan to keep competitors from stealing your most prized accounts.

This editorial appeared in the September/October 2002 issue of Progressive Distributor magazine. Copyright 2002.

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