Your Customer Knows More than Your Sales Rep

Each month, Tony Uphoff, visionary CEO of Thomasnet.com, joins
Cloud Wars Live for a recurring segment. “Uphoff on Industry”
will explore the innovations, upheavals, and breakthroughs
reshaping the the world of manufacturing and industrial markets.
Join Tony and me as we discuss disruptive new trends in the
digital-industrial world. These include how we design, source and
manufacture products. And also the new ways in which industrial
companies are getting up to speed on marketing, sales and
customer experience.


Episode 7


In this episode, Tony and I discuss the passing of Mark Hurd,
co-CEO of Oracle. He says he could be tough, but Tony had huge
admiration for his business acumen.


He goes on to say that there’s really cool technology around
what’s called “smart warehousing,” where they’re combining man
and machine to automate and improve efficiencies.


Tony was invited to give a keynote address at the Electronic
Components Industry Association (ECIA), and he spoke about data
and research. When he got off the stage, somebody used the
expression, “You punched us right in the face with the reality of
where our buyer’s going – even if we didn’t want to hear it.”


Tony was also on Fox Business News, and talked about the state of
U.S. manufacturing. Prior to his appearance, the stock market
tanked by 500 points. He says it was a fascinating time to go on
the show, since the markets were reacting to the ISM survey of
manufacturers.


Tony says that your prospective customer knows more about your
products, your offering, your competitors, and the marketplace
than your best sales rep could ever know.


Tony has a new podcast called “Thomas Industry Update.” Their
first guest is Anne Evans, director at the Department of
Commerce, who is helping U.S. companies understand the
complexities of exporting. It’s available on all platforms:
www.thomasnet.com/update.


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