my TRUE POSITION

Manufacturers track almost everything — sales, backlog, delivery, quality, scrap, margin, and cash. But are they tracking culture? In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr talks about the value of anonymous employee surveys and why they can become one of the most important leadership tools inside a manufacturing company. At CARR Machine & Tool, employee surveys have become a way to identify trends, measure communication, understand training gaps, evaluate accountability, and give employees a safe way to share what they are experiencing on the floor. This episode is not about blame. It is about visibility. Because owners do not always know what employees experience every day. And sometimes the survey shows you something before the business pays the price. Employee feedback is not HR fluff. It is leadership intelligence.

AI does not have to be complicated to be useful. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr talks about his recent experience using an AI Chrome browser extension that works inside the tools he already uses — Gmail, Google Suite, Sheets, QBO, HubSpot, ProShop ERP, and other browser-based business systems. The big realization: AI is no longer just a search box or a novelty tool. It is becoming a practical administrative assistant inside the daily workflow. Jim breaks down simple ways manufacturers and business owners can use AI right now: summarizing emails, curating customer lists, reviewing CRM notes, drafting follow-ups, cleaning up spreadsheets, organizing meeting notes, and reducing administrative drag. He also talks about the guardrails: AI should not input passwords, should move slowly, should ask for approval, and should not make business changes without human review. This episode is not about replacing people. It is about creating leverage. Because sometimes the smartest way to start using AI is not with a massive project. It is with the simple tasks wasting your time every day.

In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr breaks down the hard truth about bad customers — the ones who fight price, push delivery, challenge quality, pay late, consume your team, clog your schedule, and still expect priority treatment. Jim explains why bad customers are not just a sales problem. They are an operational contaminant. They drain leadership bandwidth, hurt morale, pressure margins, disrupt scheduling, and steal capacity from better customers. This episode is about customer discipline, leadership, margin protection, and knowing when a customer is no longer strategic. Because some customers don't grow your business. They consume it. And firing a bad customer may be the move that creates room for the business you actually want to build.

In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim breaks down exactly what he would do differently if he were starting from scratch in today's manufacturing environment. The old model was simple: buy a machine, chase work, quote cheap, work hard, and figure it out. But today, skill and hustle are not enough. Modern manufacturing requires systems, quality discipline, inspection capability, quoting accuracy, customer selection, ERP, cybersecurity awareness, brand visibility, sales strategy, and leadership depth. Jim explains why a machine is not a business model, why customer selection matters, why inspection should be treated as a competitive weapon, why marketing is no longer optional, and why the best shops are building enterprise value from day one.

Sometimes the best sales strategy is not a new campaign, a new consultant, or a complicated marketing funnel. Sometimes it is calling people who already know you. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares a recent sales epiphany from CARR Machine & Tool: he started calling inactive customers, and the response was immediate. About 80 percent responded, and many said they were swamped and actively looking to outsource precision machining. Jim breaks down why inactive customers are not dead customers, why old relationships need oxygen, and why your CRM may be one of the most underused sales assets in your company. He also shares a practical outreach method: call, leave a short voicemail, immediately send a follow-up email, include your cell number, ask what the customer is working on, listen first, then explain where your company is going. With aerospace and defense demand strong, customers need capable suppliers. But they may not remember you unless you get back in front of them.