Reported by Paul B. Brown

Selling;

 

It's great to use your salespeople as sounding boards, but make sure that you're not making promises about future products before you're ready to deliver. As Joel E. Jacob recently learned, committing yourself too early can be dangerous.

Jacob, president of the Sprayco division of M. Jacob & Sons, a Detroit company that sells plastic containers, didn't think anything of it when he told one of his sales representatives about a new point-of-purchase display he was hoping to introduce the following month. Unfortunately, even though the display hadn't been designed yet, the rep starting telling his customers about it. One customer wanted the display for an upcoming advertisement -- but needed a picture instantly. So Jacob was faced with the choice of dropping everything to design the display or alienating a key customer. He chose the former.

Based on this experience, Jacob now has a policy. "I still try to get as much input as I can about an idea," he says. "But I don't tell my reps what it's going be or when they'll have it until I'm actually ready to ship."