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M A RCY 'S M U S I N G S From Pitch to PO: The Sales Stack by Marcy L aRont , I-C onne ct0 07 These days, we talk a lot about "silicon to systems," the incomplete legislation in the U.S. and Europe around chips, and how an end product is useless until it is complete and functional. It speaks to a larger universal truth: There is simply no "whole" without each essential "part" that makes it up. Now, some parts may be weighted more heavily than oth- ers, but the interdependency between all the parts is the only way you achieve your endgame. Having said that, it is also a foundational truth that a company lives and dies by its sales. Receiv- ing that PO or contract starts the operational chain. It is the purest symbol of the machinations of the business process: You are paying me for some- thing I am doing, making, or sourcing for you. Then, every single thing a business does in exe- cuting and fulfilling that sales agreement speaks directly to customer experience and whether more POs will follow. You won't keep customers if you don't make a quality product and provide strong customer service. And in manufacturing, we tend to focus on our manufacturing processes, qual- ity, and output, but you must first get the purchase order for any of it to matter. Speaking from personal experience, sales is a hard job. It doesn't matter if you sell circuit boards, media advertising, or the latest widget that got green-lighted on "Shark Tank." Salespeople must routinely do things that make other people uncom- fortable, and they are held accountable for achiev- ing revenue goals that support a whole host of other people's jobs—something which also makes the average employee fidgety. I believe salespeople and the sales process are among the most misunderstood and maligned parts of almost any business. I wish everyone was 8 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2025