Metal Construction News, February 2019

EDITORS COMMENTS VOL 40 NO 2 Circulation audited by METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS ISSN 8756 2014 is published monthly and bimonthly in March by Modern Trade Communications Inc 8833 Gross Point Rd Suite 308 Skokie IL 60077 Subscriptions are free for those in the metal construction industry in the United States For those outside the industry the subscription price is 90 per year in the United States 120 in Canada and Mexico and 195 per year in all other countries Periodicals class postage paid at Skokie IL and additional mailing offices POSTMASTER Address service requested METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 8833 Gross Point Rd Suite 308 Skokie IL 60077 The Courtesy of No There is a common saying among experienced sales people that the worst response to a sales proposal is a slow no The prospect takes forever and ever and some more time then comes back to turn you down In the meantime youve wasted time and company resources chasing a failed opportunity when you could have gone after something more promising The slow no is a gut wrencher You walk away muttering to yourself If they had just said no up front it would have been fine Ive gone through that and I hated it I dont like to hear no to begin with but to get it after all that effort just feels discourteous Dont you wish people would put their attention to the problem and return with an answer in a timely fashion Too often they dawdle and hem and haw and dawdle some more Then when they cant procrastinate anymore they do their evaluation and finally finally make a decision I hate it But theres one thing worse than a slow no and thats a no no Awhile back I experienced that scenario We recognize that our readers are busy people and are often on job sites or places that are inconvenient to talk with us Getting some people to make time for a phone interview with trade editors is something we dont take for granted and were grateful to our sources for their time and willingness to share information But getting some sources to commit to a time for an interview can be vexing Theyre busy people and the next available time slot may be after our deadline Its the kind of juggling the edit staff does all the time scheduling interviews in time to meet writing deadlines My case began when I called the source to schedule a phone interview and he asked me to call back the next day I did and he asked me to call back the beginning of the following week I did and he asked me call back in a couple of days On every call I tried to schedule a specific time but even then he would ask me to call in the morning so we could set up a time in the afternoon One time I did get a time scheduled called him then and he asked Was now the time we were going to talk I cant do it now I chased this source for nearly two weeks with multiple phone calls always getting the brush off He never said no and always expressed interest in talking to me While he was gruff he was also friendly But after two weeks I realized I had received a no no To this day he has never told me he didnt want to do the interview and I imagine if I were to call him this afternoon he would be friendly and ask me to ring him up the next day to do it I think he may have felt sense of obligation to do the interview After all a little public relations for his company cant hurt but he was so busy or disconnected that he didnt realize he was stringing me along He showed I think a lack of courtesy Courtesy is a big thing in my book I dont expect respect from anyone but I do expect courtesy from everyone One of the most courteous things you can do is say no Modern Trade Communications Inc 8833 Gross Point Rd Suite 308 Skokie IL 60077 Phone 847 674 2200 Fax 847 674 3676 www moderntrade com www metalconstructionnews com Editorial Production Paul Deffenbaugh Editorial Director pdeffenbaugh@ moderntrade com ext 19 Marcy Marro Editor mmarro@ moderntrade com ext 25 Mark Robins Senior Editor mrobins@ moderntrade com ext 27 Christopher Brinckerhoff Associate Editor cbrinckerhoff@ moderntrade com ext 26 Quentin Brown Production Manager qbrown@ moderntrade com ext 28 Grant Kollar Art Director Business Sales John S Lawrence Chief Executive Officer johnlawrence@ moderntrade com John Paul Lawrence President jplawrence@ moderntrade com ext 21 Sarah Lawrence Director of Operations sarahlawrence@ moderntrade com ext 14 Tina Lawrence Treasurer tinalawrence@ moderntrade com Bob Higgins National Sales Manager bobhiggins@ moderntrade com ext 22 Christopher A Janos Regional Sales Manager chrisjanos@ moderntrade com ext 23 Blanca Arteaga Operations Manager barteaga@ moderntrade com ext 20 Rosa Soto Circulation Manager rsoto@ moderntrade com ext 15 Subscriptions For subscription inquiries or changes of address go to www metalconstructionnews com or contact Rosa Soto at rsoto@ moderntrade com or 847 674 2200 Memberships Paul Deffenbaugh Editorial Director pdeffenbaugh@ moderntrade com February 2019 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 3 www metalconstruct ionnews com