The Richwood Report

Most of us are remembering Johnny Carson(1925-2005) and the enjoyable Tonight show he hosted for thirty years. A few will remember Jack Paar and Steve Allen, Carson's predecessors. Here is an article about the business decisions of late-night television and some good insights for people in any business.
Here is another article by an accountant relating Carson's legacy to customer service.

Price increases are common both in commercial and consumer markets. The choices aren't hard to describe. Dave Kahle does a good job.

Anxiety abounds: "Will the customer refuse to accept it? Or solicit prices from a competitor? Will I have to give away gross margin and absorb the price increase in order to keep the business?" These kinds of doubts lead to anxious and intimidated sales people, declining sales and shrinking margins.

Dave gives seven good strategies for dealing with customers when your prices have to go up and points out that it doesn't have to have a negative influence on your business.

Remember, no one likes price increases, but they are a fact of life. As a professional salesperson, you can manage this process with excellence or you can allow it to upset you and your customers. Implement these seven strategies and you will handle the inevitable price increase with finesse and confidence.

If you haven't made somebody angry, you probably haven't been selling long. The real question is how to rescue the situation. Here is an article from the Microsoft Small Business Center on how to take specific steps when a customer is angry. There is an unbelievable amount of other information here on finance, management, human resources and other subjects. The main page is here.

A good site to have in your favorites list for reference is here. The good folks at Dwyer Controls have tables online for density of materials(so you can figure weight for a given volume of different materials), classifications of hazardous locations( for selection of electrical equipment), and NEMA classifications of electrical enclosures(for different locations).

Our compliments to EngNet®, which, according to their site,

is a powerful Directory/Search Engine/Buyers Guide Service aimed specifically at the Engineering Industry to enable Engineers, Technicians, Tradesmen, etc. to find information and communicate effectively with suppliers in the Engineering Industry.

There are some handy free downloads on the site. I downloaded their clock, which will display the time in selected timezones around the world.
Richwood is featured on the site and EngNet® appears early in Google searches for Richwood and conveyor. They also link to our blog here, under Engineering Tips/Tools which certainly can't hurt anything.

For those interested in a curry recipe based on the earlier post, here is one from The Food Network, which will have a recipe for about anything you want. Just search the site for it. I have not tried this curry but plans are in the works. With garlic, chicken and peppers, it would just about have to be good. A good quality curry powder is available here in the Yahoo Store.

Some of this material has shown up in emails about why women live longer than men. It's not really about gender bias but about how important safety is in our work. The material is humorous but the lesson is as serious as it can be. Getting the job done is never worth getting someone hurt. Every accident starts with someone thinking he can get away with it ONE time.

It's good and may be better for you than anybody thought!

Richwood Products are featured in the online magazine Focus on Aggregates and Roads. The feature will be active for three months. Be sure to check it out and let folks in that market know about the site. From the site:

Welcome to FocusOn Aggregates & Roads E-Mag Vol. 5 No. 1, delivered monthly by e-mail to over 21,900 aggregate and road building professionals throughout North America as well as several thousand world wide.

The site includes links to an expanded product listing with photographs, a corporate profile and a link to our website.

A thoughtful article from the U. K. on the significance of China in the economy of the world is here. Doing business in the Twenty-first Century means dealing with China as an economic power. We will post articles from different perspectives as they appear.