Trump's Apprentice: Ereka's Meltdown Over Trump Ice Launch

This week's episode of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" has the two teams compete to sell a truckload of Trump's brand name water. The winning team's project manager gets to select two teammates for a helicopter ride around Manhattan. The losers of course, get to go to the boardroom to see who is fired. What valuable lessons for small business are gleaned from this episode?

Team Versacorp's project manager, Ereka, hits the streets to "spread the buzz" on Trump Ice. The team members learn selling is not about building a buzz; it's about fulfilling clients' needs. In the end, Protege wins the challenge by over $2,000 and Versacorp heads for the boardroom. The boardroom bickering starts. Trump and his advisors are unimpressed with the team's lack of sales ability. Trump fires Ereka for being over-emotional.

Key Lesson: Focus on the customer not yourself. Taking care of customer needs will result in sales and profits. Read "Triple-tiered Sales Strategy."