business management

Terex Cranes announced Thursday it will close its Wilmington facility for fabrication and assembly by the end of the year, eliminating about 90 jobs in the process, according to a press release. The facility in Wilmington does some assembly and fabrication of tower cranes and small crawler cranes.

Facebook is the easiest phenomenon to understand. It has changed the way you communicate with your friends and your family, and has opened the freedom door to anyone that you come in contact with either business or personal. You have found old friends, schoolmates, and co-workers – and they have found you. And in the same way, you can find customers and prospective customers – and they can find you.

Think about the pile of business cards on your desk, of people that you’ve never really connected with, and certainly have never provided value for. Then think about the number of people who you could be adding to your network; people who could really be enlightened by you and discover your depth (or lack of it).

Not long ago the last night of Larry King Live aired. I don’t watch a lot of television, but I was compelled to see what his last night would look like. He’s interviewed thousands of people, every notable person in the world, and I’m was sure it would be interesting, if not nostalgic.

1. How many of you have some social media involvement? (Almost everyone raises their hands.)
2. How many of you wish you were better at it? (Almost everyone raises their hands.)
And keep in mind this is from a (supposedly) sophisticated group of people. They all have smart phones, most of them get personal Facebook notices on their phones, but for one reason or another they have chosen not to enter the world of business social media.

Slate Magazine published an article by James Ledbetter about the ever-increasing number of disappearing salespeople. The headline read, “Death of a Salesman. Of Lots of Them, Actually. The troubling disappearance of salesmen and how it helps explain America’s economic woes.”

REALITY: People that want to negotiate your price are in reality negotiating your profit. Any time the word “negotiate” appears in a sales situation, it means both your price AND your profit are going down.

RETHINK NEGOTIATION: Where’s “value negotiation?” Where’s “customer profitability negotiation?” Where’s “customer productivity negotiation?” Where’s “customer improved morale negotiation?” Uh, they’re nowhere. That’s because negotiations in sales have “lower price and loss of profit to the seller” at their core.

I’m at London Gatwick Airport two hours before my flight home to Charlotte. I wandered into the Ted Baker store. I love Ted Baker clothing. I found a few things I liked, but they didn’t have one of the items I wanted in my size. I was assured I could get it online. Great! I completed my purchase, and went to the airline lounge to get on my computer and buy the other item. Easy online access, found what I wanted in less than a minute. But when I went to complete my purchase, I could not find the USA as one of the 40 or so “ship to” country options.

According to www.baseballreference.com, in the 135 years of Major League Baseball, there have been a total of 17,538 MLB players. Out of that 17,538, only 25 of them have hit more than 500 home runs. Of those 25, nearly half are contemporary players who may have used steroids, but the others are among baseball immortals: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Matthews, Ernie Banks, Jimmy Foxx, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, and Mike Schmidt.

The company has won two safety awards from the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA). The first was the Crane & Rigging Zero Accident Award. This award is for members that complete the year without a single accident.