PPB February 2020

Wisdom Of The Ages Michelle Sherwin, CAS, southeast account executive for Vantage Apparel, Inc., contributed a column, “Keep It Classic,” to the January 2020 issue of PPB on classic sales techniques and practices that continue to serve sales professionals well today. The fundamentals still hold true. It is still the personal touch that creates long-time, loyal, satisfied customers. If I may, I’ll add one more: Never, never take your customers for granted. We need to prove ourselves every chance we get. BOB HAFERTEPEN Vice President, Sales and Marketing Skye Solutions for Business Cincinnati, Ohio PPAI 622754, D3 2020’s Top Concerns The January 2 issue of PPB Newslink featured the results of a new survey that reveals that the world’s chief executives view the risk of a recession as their biggest external concern in 2020, while attracting and retaining talent ranks as their top internal concern. I believe a negative economy can be, in part, a self-fulfilling prophecy. The media can also play a huge part in that and we all know we pay more attention to negative news—that which threatens us—than positive news so we need to be cognizant of not buying into negative spins. We’re wiser than we were at the onset of the last recession with better tools and insights, not to mention data to support why we’re worthy of attention. Let’s move confidently forward, shall we? JAE M. RANG, MAS Owner JAE associates, Ltd. Oakville, Ontario PPAI 561178, D4 The Importance Of Free Shipping PPB Newslink featured the results of a survey in its December 12 issue that found that for many online shoppers, free shipping is seen as the norm, rather than a perk. Our online consumers always get free shipping. We even have a promo right now that also includes a free gift, valued at $35 retail, with a purchase of our new Luxe WinePak. I think it’s obvious ... the more you give, the more you get. DEE DEE NIEDZWIECKI Chief Executive Of cer LuxePak, LLC Broom eld, Colorado PPAI 743943, S00 feed back Send feedback on articles in PPB or opinions on industry issues to JamesK@ppai.org . 8 | FEBRUARY 2020 |