Highlights of this Edition

Here is our newly revised newsletter for 2008. The articles cover a wide range of management issues designed around the specific needs of our clients.

Bob Currie’s article on 2007 in Review is must reading for Dealer Principals, Sales Managers, Manufacturers and those manufacturing people involved in Sales Development.

George Keen’s article is focused on service customers and should be read by Service Managers, Sales Managers and General Managers.

Michelle Currie’s article on Leadership is must reading for all Managers and Supervisors as it addresses cultural issues which are critical to any high performing company.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Currie Management Consultants, Inc.’s Newsletter and we welcome any questions and/or comments.

2007 In Review

by Bob Currie


From the perspective of CMC, 2007 was a good year for us and for the vast majority of our clients. Profitability and cash flow were generally quite good (good asset management), but revenue growth was more mixed. We knew revenue growth would be mixed going into 2007 because of the instability in consumer confidence in 2006. (Remember the correlation between consumer confidence and capital goods expenditures.) That specific knowledge led us to focus much of our work in 2007 on Sales Management both in North America and in Europe.

The first task in improving Sales Management was to establish a clear expectation with regard to sales reps. As we have discovered in much of our work...

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Converting Customers to Full Contract Maintenance

by George M. Keen


"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." – Charles Darwin

This quotation deals with the basics of life, and recently there have been a series of trends that are facing dealers to adapt, such as: electronic commerce, strategic manufacturer alliances, scarce labor, consolidations on all levels, and increased customer demands, just to name a few. How you adapt will determine your survival.

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Leadership/Belief Dynamic

by Michelle B. Currie


Unless you’ve lived your life under a rock, we have all heard of “The power of positive thinking”, “The Secret” and thousands of other books, tapes, and motivational speakers on the subject of what I believe is the mind/emotion/behavior connection. In simple language positive thoughts bring about behaviors that lead to positive results while negative thoughts bring about behaviors that lead to negative results.

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CMC News and CMC Cares

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