Business advice: Know your vendors’ sales representatives
Editor’s note: Who among us, especially young entrepreneurs and small-business owners, doesn’t want to learn from others?
With that in mind, we asked our readers for the best business advice they’ve ever received.
We continue this occasional column with comments from two local residents on great advice they received early in their careers.
As a technical and engineering electronics purchasing agent for most of my career, I’ve always worked for small companies or small engineering groups of large corporations.
As such, I’ve never been in a position to have to purchase large quantities of electronic components.
Many years ago, while working at the West Coast Engineering facility of a large East Coast company, a vendor gave me some sage advice.
“When parts are hard to come by (either because companies cut back on capacity and inventory during recessions or because the economy is so good that companies can’t keep up with customer usage), it’s not the buyer who spends the most, but the buyer who the sales representative likes the most.”
That piece of wisdom (circa 1981) has served me well over the years.
Mark D. Crawford, Grover Beach
TELL US YOUR BEST BUSINESS ADVICE
What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received? And how has it helped make you more successful in your business/professional life? Tell us in 100 words or fewer, and send it to bizbuzz@thetribunenews.com. We will publish them in future Biz Buzz columns.
This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Business advice: Know your vendors’ sales representatives."