This column first appeared in Printing Impressions October 2012 © Bill Farquharson When did life get so busy? Why must we Google “free time” in order to recall what it means? And why am on my email at 10pm feeling like a son of anarchy when I should be in a chair watching Sons of […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions October 2020 © Bill Farquharson On October 20, 2020 at 10:10 PM Eastern time, I will turn 60 years old. The cursor is blinking at me, awaiting my next words but I am taking in the number “60.” Oddly, it’s one thing to say it and another thing […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions November 2020 © Bill Farquharson At some point this past spring, the game began. The Center for Disease Control counted to 10 and everyone scattered. Kids came home from school and went to their room. Visitors went back where they belong. City-dwellers became country folk. And clients left […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions September 2020 © Bill Farquharson Ah, human nature. There are things in life that are just predictable: The odds of a dropped piece of buttered toast landing face down. The chances of the driver you just screamed at for cutting you off being your next appointment. And the […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions March 2020 © Bill Farquharson Watching a sporting event such as the Australian Open tennis tournament or a professional golf event or basketball or baseball or football and you will see two kinds of competitors. The first is the group possessing the kind of extraordinary talent and athletic […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions June 2020 © Bill Farquharson “The New Sales Challenges: What was once optional is now mandatory” Those were the words written on the whiteboard when the sales reps filed in to the conference room for the monthly meeting. As is company policy, no cell phones were allowed, leaving […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions July 2020 © Bill Farquharson It’s as if you were in a coma, isn’t it? There you were cruising along and the next thing you know your book of business is a pamphlet. You can rub your eyes and pinch yourself all you want. Nothing is going to […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions August 2020 © Bill Farquharson va-ca-shun (n): To not work. No, really. Submit a column, back away from the computer, and get lost. Go on… It was clear to everyone but him that he needed a vacation. COVID-19 quarantining had made him a little, well, more crazy than […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions April 2020 © Bill Farquharson Emma Louise, a Cornell University graduate student accompanied her father at a tradeshow. To call this a “print” tradeshow would be both unfair and inaccurate. Sure, print was present but it was displayed in many ways and on various substrates. The entire show […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions January 2019 © Bill Farquharson “Sales meeting.” No two words in the English language cause a reps’ eyes to roll more than these. They will feign sickness or claim an emergency client meeting in order to avoid what they are sure will be a horrible experience. Then, when […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions March 2019 © Bill Farquharson In his 2014 Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Actor, Matthew McConaughey famously stated that his hero was a future version of himself. His exact words were, “Me in 10 years. That’s who I chase.” Think about the sales person you were 10 […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions July 2019 © Bill Farquharson Google the phrase, “Would you rather” and you will find a bevy of difficult questions posing two options and asking you to pick one. They are not easy for both have consequences. There are many different versions of this exercise, one for kids, […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions June 2019 © Bill Farquharson Months of calling and convincing and cajoling and—if we’re being honest here—pleading has paid off and you are finally given the opportunity to make a sales presentation to that big fish account you have been coveting ever since you started in sales. This […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions August 2019 © Bill Farquharson While it is valuable for a salesperson to ask questions — of him/herself, to and about customers, etc.— there are good questions and bad questions. Good questions are the ones that improve sales productivity, help understand what is being done well, and make […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions September 2019 © Bill Farquharson He is Norm. Norm is a competitor of yours. As you size up the landscape of other printers in the area, he is just average. He is normal. He is Norm. As you work to increase your sales business, understand this: Norm is […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions November 2019 © Bill Farquharson You sit in a room full of other salespeople. Your competition, no doubt. One by one, a rep is ushered out of the room for their turn to impress. It’s an audition and everyone gets the chance to differentiate. To be special. To […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions December 2019 © Bill Farquharson Over the course of a sales career, you will experience landing the kind of humungous account that will make you feel like you are standing at the top of a mountain, thrusting your arms to the sky and taking a victorious stance while […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions October 2018 © Bill Farquharson Prospecting is a must. It’s a have-to. It’s as important as exercise, brushing your teeth, eating, stretching, and anything else that needs to be done on a daily basis. For as sure as the Patriots winning the AFC East for the 150th consecutive […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions November 2018 © Bill Farquharson And just like that, 2018 was over and we look ahead to 2019. This is the time of year for thanks and gifts and visits and joy and, of course, top 10 lists. Salespeople? Here’s yours. It’s a bucket list for success. Do […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions May 2018 © Bill Farquharson It started out like any other sales meeting. Numbers flashed on the screen and you are in danger of falling victim to Death by PowerPoint as Management drones on and on with the speech you’ve heard countless times before and could probably take […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions May 2018 © Bill Farquharson For the fifth consecutive time, you lose a bid. Same customer. Same result. “I’ll keep trying,” you tell the client over the phone as she delivers the bad news. “I appreciate the chance to provide pricing. Please let me know if there’s anything […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions July 2018 © Bill Farquharson Before you go any further into this column, grab a pen and pad of paper and answer this question: Why aren’t you selling more? Make a full list of as many things as you can. When you’re done, proceed… Sales people who answer […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions June 2018 © Bill Farquharson If you ask someone what comes to mind when they think of a salesperson, you are likely to hear adjectives like, “pushy” and “arrogant” and “obnoxious.” Hollywood certainly has done little to portray the career choice as anything but negative. From Herb Tarlek […]

This column first appeared in Printing Impressions January 2018 © Bill Farquharson When you first start out in sales or as a selling owner, anyone with a pulse is your customer. Reaching across the desk, you apply to fingers to the wrist and if you feel a lub-dub, lub-dub, they are a prospect. Because you’re […]