Bruce Fox Blog

Read Time - 3 Minutes

(This blog was originally published on Dec. 14, 2016)

‘Twas the night of the banquet, when all through the room
Not a soul could be found, but they’d be on hand soon.
The tables were dressed in fine linens with care,
In hopes that everyone soon would be there.

The recipients descended all dressed to the nines,
While visions of grandeur danced in their minds.
As the host for the evening, I went over my notes,
Complete with some wit, and a few pithy quotes.

When out in the lobby there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the foyer I flew like a flash,
To see what was troubling this well thought-out bash. 

Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes

It’s the holidays! So, we decided to get into the holiday spirit by celebrating it our own way (and no, I’m not talking about insights into what Bruce Fox does for the holidays) – I’m talking about giving back to our Distributor partners.

We want to end the year with specials that make you feel special (it’s the holidays, we can be corny).

Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes

I was inspired by Dave’s blog – in topic and imagery. The main image of the blog has a reaper, which is rather poignant for his argument.

Despite the perfect symbolism for the blog, I can’t help the Blue Oyster Cult song “Don’t Fear the Reaper” playing in my head each time I look at the photo.

Estimated Read Time: 7 Minutes

From scheduling meetings with prospects to following up with clients and suppliers for orders, distributors are swamped. It’s easy to get caught up in the grind and lose sight of some key aspects to prospecting and sales.

Even the Sales 101 tactics that we all (or certainly the majority) agree upon get buried under tasks, meetings, and client communication.

Now, we all know prospecting is a crucial part of your sales funnel. However, it tends to be more than just time-consuming. There is waste –wasting time and energy. Which, time is one of our most limited resources. So wasting time and effort on a prospect that is not worth it is not only a time-suck but is also damaging to you and your company.

So let’s use a rifle bullet to target the prospects you want, rather than using the exhausting shot-gun approach.

Estimated Read Time: 6 Minutes

The holidays quickly turn into a giant to-do list, especially for business professionals. If you ever have to deal with vendors, clients, or other outside connections, you have to work around being off for a few days, deal with company shut-downs, and any other little surprises that come up this time of year.

That’s why I’ve gone ahead and created a holiday prep list. We can all use a helpful list to just check off as we countdown to the holiday break.

Estimated Read Time: 10 Minutes

What does Thanksgiving mean to you? Having too much turkey and pumpkin pie? Spending time with your friends and family? Rushing from house to house, trying to make all the different get-togethers while wondering why you do this to yourself? Or is Thanksgiving just the day before Black Friday?

Thanksgiving means something different for many people; however, it did not start as all of those things. Thanksgiving started as the most basic definition – giving thanks.

Being thankful and celebrating what you have by giving thanks for it.

That’s the definition I want to remind everyone about – be thankful for what you have; whether that’s your friends, your family, your health, a roof over your head, or even your employees. Everyone has something to be thankful for.

Estimated Read Time: 4.5 Minutes

With the holidays comes the onslaught of customers who have ghosted for the past 11 months and what seems to be a mountain of orders from all of your other various clients. At least that’s if you’ve been working on drumming up business, growing your current clients, and building your prospect list all year long.

Getting all of those orders and customers is fantastic, but not so much on your timetable. You only have so many days until the end of the year – here’s a countdown clock if you really want to feel rushed.

Now, if you’ve been reading our blogs, you’ll know that we’ve been avid proponents for getting holiday orders in early. By doing so, you won’t have to fight tight timelines, limited stock, crazy expatiated shipping costs, and other reasons here.

However, November is now upon us and I’m sure you’re frantically searching for products that will please your customer while still having a fast turn-around time. That’s where our DYR line comes in.

Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes 

Halloween is in the rear-view mirror, but the real spooky stuff is still in full view in the windshield ahead of us.

Anyone reading this (or taking in oxygen) understands the tariff issue and the impact it bears on the promotional products marketplace. If this harbinger has somehow passed you by, then this article from Counselor will bring you up to speed:

Estimated Read Time: 16 Minutes

There is plenty out there to make any HR professional lose sleep, from laws that are bouncing around Parliament to the latest misconduct occurrence.  However, some rather important issues get lost under the stacks of paperwork. Countless hours get swallowed by the latest project or another situation that’s on fire.

Everyone has the fear that they’re missing something important because they are so busy. Unfortunately, it’s highly likely that you’re passing over important connections by just moving on to the next item on the checklist.

Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes

Like my new shirt?

Never mind the goofy pseudo-modeling pose. The shirt is your basic garden-variety light blue polo shirt. A dad uniform staple. It might be like the forty-seven-eleventh one I’ve owned that looks pretty much like this one. But this particular shirt is quite special to me for a reason no shirt has ever been. I wanted to give it a try for what I think is an interesting reason. You might find it interesting too…