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Lee Distad
rAVe [Publications]
Edmonton, AB, Canada
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Past articles by Lee:
Why Even Have Resellers If You’re Going to Cut Them Out? – rAVe [PUBS]
When I start work in the morning one of the steps in my routine is to log in to Alberta Purchasing Connection: that’s the portal of the provincial government that aggregates all the RFQs and RFPs for every level of government in the province: municipal, provincial, as well as ministries and school boards. → Read More
Editorial Things I Never Expected: Running a Company on Free Trial Software and Publicizing Top Salespeople – rAVe [PUBS]
No matter how long you’ve been around, you can still be surprised.This Christmas season, several of our brands ran Q4 sales contests and promotions for our dealers. There’s nothing unusual about that, lots of brands run promotions for Q4. It’s Christmas, and you have to make the most of what we → Read More
And the Sale After That: How to Look Ahead – rAVe [PUBS]
It’s never just the one sale: it’s the sale after that, and the one after that. And just because someone has only bought a little from you in the past doesn’t mean that one day they’ll be in a position to buy a lot more. You’ve always got to leave room for that possibility. → Read More
Something to BRAG About
If you are old enough, some of you will remember a TV commercial from the 1980s in which an actor said, “I’m not a doctor, although I play one on TV…”I want to preface this column by saying that I am not a project manager, nor have I played one on TV. But I have spent a lot of time working close → Read More
You’ve Got the Look
Even if their company doesn’t mandate a uniform, somehow sales reps for different verticals or channels all end up dressing similarly to one another: a uniform of sorts. → Read More
Managing Client Timelines
With the holiday season in full swing, my dealer partners are in the middle of one of two modes, depending on which channel their core business is in. The retailers are nose-down, hard at work to maximize their revenue between the just-passed Black Friday and the still-to-come Boxing Day.Meanwhi → Read More
Understanding Friction Versus Inertia
When it comes to your systems and processes, it can be easy to identify which ones are slowing down the company and impeding good results: Your team members will tell you. → Read More
Coming Out of COVID
Back in 2020, during the depths of the pandemic and the shutdown restrictions, one of my main vendors kept sending me samples. It’s not unusual for vendors to send me samples. But there were two things that made this odd. → Read More
Today's Staffing Level Problem – rAVe [PUBS]
Since I feel like I do that a lot too, I try not to be unkind about it. That said, the book’s core — that demographics allow us to forecast future trends — has at least some bearing on a problem that is becoming apparent in lots of industries and sectors: low staffing. → Read More
When Testing Goes Wrong
I decided to sell an old subwoofer online. I will admit that when I first listed it I only ran a cursory test on it: I plugged it into my AVR and ran a test tone through it. Satisfied, I boxed it up again. And, as the saying goes, now we wait. → Read More
Always Defer to Expertise
Someone else once used baking bread as an analogy for any skill or ability. The thing about baking bread is that if you don’t know how to do it, you don’t even know where to begin. → Read More
Asking Probing Questions
One of the brands I rep is RAM Mounts. It offers solutions for mounting phones, tablets and laptops in vehicles. My dealers for them either work in or are adjacent to fleet management. → Read More
Just Like the Good Old Days
Just like how the smell of a freshly baked cookie inspired author Marcel Proust to write an entire book — “Remembrances of Things Past” – I just had an experience that inspired waves of nostalgia.I was in the middle of my early morning get-started-for-work routine, which includes things like fir → Read More
Learning to Laugh at Logistical Hassles
A few weeks ago, one of my installing dealers placed a substantial order for a large commercial installation. They also arranged to have it drop shipped directly to their client’s job site. → Read More
Keeping Your Cool — Part 1
Your clients will regret not factoring airflow and cooling into their AV rooms. Fortunately, you’re in a position to exercise your expertise and credibility to do something about it. → Read More
The Wrong Darn Cable
Hands up, everyone who keeps a box or boxes of leftover cables, adaptors and parts stashed away because you never know when you might need one of them.What’s that, everyone? Yeah, that’s what I thought. We all joke about how ridiculous that whole mindset is, but deep down, we all know it is seri → Read More
Customer (or Contact) Relationship Management
Just like working out and eating healthy, the best business systems are the ones that get applied consistently. While that's true of all systems, CRM: Customer (or Contact), Relationship Management is especially true. → Read More
Customer (or Contact) Relationship Management Editorial
Just like working out and eating healthy, the best business systems are the ones that get applied consistently. While that's true of all systems, CRM: Customer (or Contact), Relationship Management is especially true. → Read More
Business ebb and flow, notably during and after COVID-19 – rAVe [PUBS]
If there are fewer prospects presenting themselves, salespeople must do two things. The first is that they need to close a higher percentage of the leads they have into paying customers. Next, because that first step on its own is likely to be insufficient, is to go out there and find more leads on your own. → Read More
Don’t Say ‘No.’ Say ‘No, But
I’ve been told that there are two kinds of people: The people who say “there are two kinds of people” and the ones who don’t. That reminds me of the favorite joke of one of my old sociology professors, who told us “there are two kinds of people: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.”Ta → Read More