[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I spent 30+ years in sales and marketing and the most stress came from within, most customers understood price increases if they were delivered properly with a logical explanation and not a gouging strategy. I always spent a lot of time building to a price increase, getting the customer ready and always being above board. No one likes a price increase but if you are dealing with customers that have an appreciation for a business making a profit, they will accept them. We lost business over the years on rare occasions but in most cases it worked out.

I retired as VP sales and still have many friends in the industry, more customers than peers within the company, in fact the company declared bankruptcy last year. I'm just happy I got out when I did, it has become much more stressful and certainly not much fun on most days.

You have my sympathy. So much distrust has developed recently in any business, trust and a handshake were the way we built business. That type of loyalty no longer exists. Most unfortunate.

Well said!!! 23 years here. There's some loyalty out there. Not much but some.