tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102679182011-07-07T16:04:38.038-07:00This is Dave Brock's blog offering views, thoughts, opinions and observations on making a difference. This applies to business and personal ways to make a difference.Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.comBlogger1951100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-81317442314110146732009-07-31T07:42:00.001-07:002009-07-31T07:46:52.883-07:00

Thank you for visiting Dave Brock's Blog, Making A Difference. This blog has moved and all new posts and comments are now at:Partners In EXCELLLENCE Blog -- Making A Differencehttp://partnersinexcellenceblog.comPlease update your readers, RSS Feeds, and bookmarks. We don't want to lose you so please visit us at our new home.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-47352988612882859002009-07-23T14:41:00.000-07:002009-07-23T14:41:21.766-07:00

Taking a page from some of my blogging colleagues, I wanted to celebrate and thank all my readers. This is my 200th blog post.Before I go on, part of the celebration is to announce that we're moving. The new location and link for our blog is:Making A Difference.For those of you that want to see it "spelled out," the new location is: http://partnersinexcellenceblog.comPlease update your feeds,

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-21297707051230182692009-07-22T10:46:00.000-07:002009-07-22T11:40:45.091-07:00

Yesterday, I got an intriguing tweet. It was from an individual and simply stated, "We inspire sales people. If interested let's connect." I have to admit, the pitch caught my interest. I looked at his twitter profile and saw roughly 95% of his 374 updates had one of 3 variants of the same pitch.It got me to thinking, aren't many of our initial introductions and value propositions to prospects

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-3841204501166619832009-07-22T04:00:00.000-07:002009-07-22T04:00:09.818-07:00

You know this story, I'm sitting at my desk, the phone rings, I answer, and an enthusiastic voice: "Good morning Dave!, I'm Roger from XXX....." The pitch begins.This guy was selling a Sales 2.0 tool, which I actually had some interest in. I barely had the words, "tell me what you do" out of my mouth when the script started."Excuse me, may I ask a question," I tried to inject, but the pitch went

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-89536446091715025402009-07-21T06:04:00.000-07:002009-07-21T07:34:46.794-07:00

I love being in sales, I love talking to great sales professional. I think a large part of it is that success in sales requires you to really think.Many people make a mistake when they think about sales. Some think it is all about the product--success comes from good product knowledge and a great pitch. Good product knowledge is important, but that's not what sales is about. And the pitch really

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-52699493467217808292009-07-21T04:00:00.000-07:002009-07-21T04:00:06.467-07:00

It's approaching that time of year. I'm getting calls from clients: "Dave, we will be starting our planning process in September. We will have to commit to 2010's numbers and budget, we will have to develop a commission plan that motivates our sales people to hit the goals..... We're going to need your help." These conversations got me to thinking about a mistake I think many organizations

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-64287330906093018912009-07-20T15:06:00.000-07:002009-07-20T15:18:36.854-07:00

I'm frustrated and a little impatient. As a profession, we seem to be doing the same thing over and over, making little progress. Sometimes, I feel like I'm Bill Murray waking up every morning in "Ground Hog Day."All sorts of sales consultants, guru's, and other self proclaimed experts (probably including me, if I'm honest) make a lot about being consultative, solutions and customer focused,

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-72357891610804129402009-07-15T07:02:00.000-07:002009-07-15T07:40:52.412-07:00

Many of you know I'm very enthusiastic about Twitter. I believe it has potential to be a very powerful tool for business professionals. Right now, we are just scratching the surface of potential applications.I'm seeing people use it in very clever ways for competitive and market insight. I read stories of amazing customer service (though one wonders why people had to resort to Twitter to get

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-43149612974880111582009-07-14T07:48:00.002-07:002009-07-14T08:32:39.226-07:00

A good friend (and top sales executive) and I were having an interesting conversation this morning. One of his regional VP's was having great difficulty with one of the organization's top sales people. We were talking about what to do about the sales person. The issue was that the sales person was refusing to have anything to do with the company's CRM system. Despite constant reminders (

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-19576534436085186362009-07-13T14:32:00.001-07:002009-07-13T15:10:21.524-07:00

Over the past week, I have had several conversations and a common theme kept coming up: "How do we stay relevant to our customers?" Since the crash of the economy, the projects we were working on, the things we were doing are no longer important to many of our customers. Our customers no longer want to talk to us.I have to admit I've struggled a little with this notion -- how did we become

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-42559618605596281952009-07-09T08:21:00.000-07:002009-07-09T08:58:29.825-07:00

We know that a clear differentiated value proposition is critical to sales success. Over the past month, I have been writing about various aspects of developing communicating and delivering differentiated value to your customers. I'll stay on the same theme, but take a slightly different direction.How many sales professionals understand the core value propositions of their customers? Do we know

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-37512540234771953232009-07-08T08:31:00.000-07:002009-07-08T09:18:52.772-07:00

A few days ago, a reader contacted me with a great question: "Dave, you always talk about creating value in every meeting with the customer. What do you mean? Is it realistic? How do I get what I need accomplished?" Thanks, for the question and keeping me from being glib.Let me back up a minute. One of the most common issues that comes up when I speak with sales people is, "we can't get meetings

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-16731991305543864612009-07-06T13:58:00.000-07:002009-07-06T14:14:26.329-07:00

Last week, I published a post: First, Let Your Customer Finish Their Sentence, Then Ask Three Questions. In it, I addressed an issue that very experienced sales professionals often have---that is, being so "prepared" to provide solutions that they never give their customers a chance to tell their story.Not only is interrupting offensive to customers, but it presents the opportunity to miss a lot

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-12952192048644181812009-07-06T07:37:00.000-07:002009-07-06T07:50:13.040-07:00

Webinar: Driving Demand in a Demanding MarketJuly 15 1:00 PM PST / 4 PM ESTAs a sales executive, you know how difficult it is to increase revenue while decreasing costs in today's selling environment. You’re under pressure to produce sales. Missed deals are costing you money. You need new ways to get smarter and more productive quickly – not more of the same. But which new sales strategies will

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-72728245894416130642009-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:002009-06-26T06:02:46.332-07:00

Yesterday, I had a discussion with "Mark." Mark is one of the best sales/business development professionals I have ever met. In the market segments in which he sells, he is truly an expert. He's spent many years in understanding the industry, the players, the key issues facing everyone in the value delivery chain. Customers seek and respect Mark's opinion. He's helped customers achieve great

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-84949809356497618072009-06-23T09:33:00.000-07:002009-06-23T17:41:59.953-07:00

I just finished a conversation with a client. He is the EVP of Sales for a high performing sales organization. We were talking about the challenge of setting his company's offerings apart from the competition---continuing to differentiate their solutions.For a few moments, we spoke about the "good old days." We reflected on how things had changed, what used to set them apart is now a common

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-6957346766512933282009-06-22T10:51:00.000-07:002009-06-22T10:58:58.094-07:00

Webinar: Driving Demand in a Demanding Market July 15 11 AM PST / 2 PM ESTAs a sales executive, you know how difficult it is to increase revenue while decreasing costs in today's selling environment. You’re under pressure to produce sales. Missed deals are costing you money. You need new ways to get smarter and more productive quickly – not more of the same. But which new sales strategies will

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-13213342068511887802009-06-16T13:32:00.000-07:002009-06-17T10:55:41.164-07:00

To many sales and business executives, developing channels, reseller relationships, or other similar partnerships is driven by finding cost effective means to covering markets or geographies. While this is compelling, I'd like to suggest a more effective strategy for developing and implementing your channel and partner strategies---if well executed, it will also be a cost effective way of

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-48423358737454339942009-06-12T06:17:00.000-07:002009-06-12T06:57:24.215-07:00

This is the quandary of the traditional sales person---they sell, but we all know people don't like to be sold! What we forget about this concept is that while people don't like to be sold, they really do like buying! I'll say it again--people like to buy. People need to buy to achieve their goals. A problem is that people don't necessarily know how to buy! Solving this problem for customers

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-83906555338424370322009-06-11T06:23:00.000-07:002009-06-11T06:52:59.420-07:00

I've been writing about creating differentiated value for your customers. Let me focus on a couple of elements of value---in this you will discover why "generic" value propositions miss the mark.Value has many dimensions. As business and sales professionals, we tend to focus on the business elements of value--how much we can reduce costs, how much we can improve revenues, how much we can improve

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-31989974546530924762009-06-09T15:46:00.000-07:002009-06-09T16:22:17.629-07:00

A compelling and differentiated value proposition is critical in selling—we all know this, yet this remains one of the biggest challenges facing sales professionals.This post examines 5 critical elements about developing and communicating differentiated value propositions.1. Numbers count, quantifying your value is critical. We know the structure of value proposition, it states a problem area or

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-82765005920505455412009-06-08T15:48:00.000-07:002009-06-08T15:58:08.629-07:00

Webinar: Driving Demand in a Demanding MarketJuly 15 11 AM PST / 2 PM ESTAs a sales executive, you know how difficult it is to increase revenue while decreasing costs in today's selling environment. You’re under pressure to produce sales. Missed deals are costing you money. You need new ways to get smarter and more productive quickly – not more of the same. But which new sales strategies will

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-78638551168050010442009-06-05T08:09:00.000-07:002009-06-05T09:26:46.564-07:00

I've been quietly following my friend Dave Stein's posts, tweets, and rants about the state of sales training this week. I guess the ASTD conference set him off, but I've been quietly cheering him along.Sales training seems to be one of those things people constantly complain about --- management, sales people, training people --- yet somehow we are content in not doing anything about it.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-884996886503418892009-06-04T11:39:00.000-07:002009-06-04T11:51:16.345-07:00

I have written a lot about Strategic Partnerships and Alliances as part of your sales strategies. Over the past tow weeks we have been conducting a survey on the importance of partnering to sales strategies. We gotten good participation and, on a preliminary basis, some very intriguing results. Some of the results are actually a bit of a surprise to me---I think people will be quite intrigued

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-63766454484921140622009-06-03T18:33:00.000-07:002009-06-03T18:44:40.399-07:00

Many of you who follow me or know me, know that I am an avid road bicyclist. Today, I saw this from Jessica Hagy's ThisIndexed blog and couldn't stop laughing. It is so true---I've spent a lot of time picking bugs from my teeth, learning when you do a fast down and are surrounded by fields, keep your mouth closed.Her title was so appropriate: Mmmmmm---Protein!

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-72715531301658249602009-06-02T09:04:00.000-07:002009-06-02T13:39:33.052-07:00

Top Sales Experts Is Building THE Most Significant WorldwideSales Community on the Internet. I've been one of the "experts" in this group and gotten great value out of the associations I have developed in the organization. I'd like to invite you to join.Here is some interesting data about TSE:64: the number of experts committed to your success -- well 63 experts and me. 1500: the number of

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-37424760573882390952009-05-31T08:29:00.000-07:002009-05-31T09:03:34.898-07:00

The other day, Niall Devitt and I were having a conversation about the challenges of selling in the present economy. Ultimately, we determined that sales people need to change their perspectives--perhaps dramatically to be successful. Customers' problems have changed, decisionmaking has changed. Sales people must change their point of view to successfully meet these changes.When I first was

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-24301985175248583982009-05-28T06:44:00.000-07:002009-05-28T07:13:12.929-07:00

This is a funny, but sometimes all too true video.Next Tuesday, June 2, at 1:00 PM EDT, Niall Devitt and I are presenting a webinar sponsored by Top Sales Experts: The Good News, Customers Want To Buy; The Bad News, They Can't Find The Funding. We address the very issue raised in this video and provide a foundation to help you find solutions to this issue. Make sure you sign up and participate.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-69853321513618937452009-05-27T15:21:00.000-07:002009-05-27T16:39:58.718-07:00

It's a familiar complaint. We're all time poor, as a result of cutbacks, expansion in spans of control, expansion of job responsibilities, and the list never ends. Every year I talk to 100's of sales managers and executives. They know they need to spend more time coaching and developing their people, but they just can't find the time to do it.This problem is more serious than many might think.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-47185020177245127572009-05-17T21:00:00.000-07:002009-05-17T21:00:00.761-07:00

Any of you who have followed me know that one of my soapboxes is raising the level of professionalism with sales people. Too often, it seems we take one step forward and too giant steps backwards.I hate to criticize other bloggers, but I just saw something at BNET that has caused me to comment. The title is "Five Ways To Lure Recession Battered Customers." The article has some good concepts, but

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-6621486029825357512009-05-17T18:00:00.000-07:002009-05-18T13:25:16.981-07:00

Narcissistic Leaders, we've seen too many of them. In good times, their visions can be compelling. They can be charismatic, inspiring followers. Those positive characteristics are overshadowed by their terrible weaknesses---and these challenging times are likely to accentuate these weaknesses.Ben Dattner, of Dattner Consulting, has an outstanding summary of characteristics of narcissistic

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-17040575462493072272009-05-15T07:03:00.000-07:002009-05-15T08:15:54.978-07:00

It's 7:00am, I'm busy disposing of email and getting my day started. I'm already on my second cup of coffee, the phone rings.....Most of my clients and colleagues know I start my day in the "office" at 5:00am, so I am anticipating it is one of them.Dave: Hello, this is Dave Brock.Other Party (OP): May I speak to your office manager?Dave: Well, my name is Dave Brock, I own the company so I guess

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-23497008304948963282009-05-14T16:27:00.001-07:002009-05-14T17:22:17.015-07:00

First let's agree that many sales professionals (and others) are certifiable. My wife reminds me of this with every crazy idea I come up with. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about whether there should be a certification process for sales professionals.Over the past week, I've raised a lot of debate with my Posts On Sales Force Ineffectiveness, Conjecture On The Future Of The Profession:

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-21897457599458343582009-05-11T13:24:00.000-07:002009-05-12T08:07:19.336-07:00

Over the past 2 months, we have written a lot about Strategic Parnerships and Alliances as part of your sales strategies. Two of the posts are:Sometimes All We Want Is Good Customers, Sometimes All Customrs Want Is Good SuppliersIf Your Suppliers Are In Trouble, Then You Are In Bigger TroubleWe've gotten a lot of queries and comments from people who have seen these articles. Many share our views

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-13258750247779304102009-05-08T10:16:00.000-07:002009-05-08T10:59:44.212-07:00

If you’ve made it this far through the series of articles, you probably want to quit your sales job and become a hermit in the mountains. I’ve certainly created a bleak picture. Thank you for your patience and dligence in hanging in with me!However, I am tremendously excited about being a sales professional and for the future of sales professionals. I think the dismal picture I’ve portrayed, also

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-37036405597363515912009-05-08T10:09:00.000-07:002009-05-08T11:08:48.461-07:00

In the first part of this post, I focused primarily on the sales function and challenges we have created for ourselves. However, what we face is not just a sales problem.There are some things that keep us from being as effective as possible that are not just the “fault” of sales people, but which do contribute to our inability to sustain high levels of effective performance. Some of it is “

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-1817318476188611662009-05-08T09:58:00.000-07:002009-05-08T11:08:08.465-07:00

Let me start with an apology, I will probably gore everyone’s ox in this post. My intention is not to pick on any group of sales professionals, but to start a discussion about the state of the profession and to stimulate ideas on how each of use—as individuals, leaders, influencers might improve the practice of the profession. I’ve actually split this post into two, Part 1 addresses issues that

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-46776774938691495562009-05-06T13:17:00.000-07:002009-05-06T13:37:32.522-07:00

Thanks to the folks at TheCustomerCollective and Oracle for sponsoring a terrific eBook, Selling Through A Slump. It's a great resource for every sales professional. You really should download the eBook and use it as your playbook to help you in growing your sales within different market segments.I was asked to write the section: Selling To Manufacturers. To tantalize you to read more in the

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-45375133674676574012009-05-05T16:32:00.000-07:002009-05-05T17:16:54.598-07:00

The other day, a sales person I had coached a few years ago called me up. He was getting a big promotion to handle one of his company's largest customers. He called to ask me what it took to be an outstanding major accounts rep. The guy was already a great customer focused sales person, so we didn't spend much time on those areas.I reeled a number of thoughts off the top of my head. I know I've

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-32799823128215217942009-04-30T07:56:00.000-07:002009-04-30T08:08:40.079-07:00

For regular readers of this blog, you know I've been evangelizing rich collaboration and expressing concern about the health of the Supply Chain. If you want to re-read the post: If Your Suppliers Are In Trouble, Then You Are In Trouble.I'm not the only person concerned about this. Today, I read an interesting article in CFO Magazine: Will Your Supplier Still Be Here Tomorrow? The article focuses

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-78371406267333990062009-04-30T06:06:00.001-07:002009-04-30T06:37:21.955-07:00

This new ebook from 11 top sales professionals and bloggers (yes, I'm putting myself in that category--at least for the moment) focuses on simple advice on Selling Through The Recession.Sponsored by the folks at TheCustomerCollective and Oracle CRM, we look at 11 industries, providing the top 10 tips, in each, for identifying opportunities, supporting your customers and growing the business. It's

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-60311220170013051912009-04-27T06:31:00.000-07:002009-04-27T06:35:48.098-07:00

Thank you to the folks at Social Media Today. I've been selected as Blogger Of The Week. They are tremendously generous---both in selecting of me and the flattering profile. They are a great team to work with. Here's the link: Blogger Of The Week - Dave Brock, Conversation Starter.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-41636511111645084932009-04-24T08:12:00.000-07:002009-04-24T08:56:17.920-07:00

We read everyday about organizations not achieving what they want in leveraging sales training, implementing CRM, implementing Sales 2.0 tools, new processes--whatever. While it may sound surprising, one of the key reasons organizations don't get what they want from these programs is that managers, at all levels don't set a visible example in utilizing the tools, training, or processes themselves

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-56092175370830514762009-04-23T11:03:00.000-07:002009-04-23T12:07:30.163-07:00

Yesterday and today, I've had to restructure a lot of what I had planned to accomplish. Our email server and our websites are hosted by Earthlink--everything went down yesterday. Late yesterday, email came back up--but we got bits and pieces of queued up emails delivered over several hours. Our websites are still down and we had planned to launch some major new things through the website at this

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-11805681895949072332009-04-22T11:28:00.000-07:002009-04-22T17:57:06.108-07:00

I work with sales executives and professionals everyday. Many of the organizations have invested millions of dollars/euro/yuan/yen in tools (CRM, Sales 2.0) and training. Yet the results aren't there. The expected improvements in productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness just aren't there. What's wrong, why aren't organizations getting the results? What does it take to get real performance

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-46388440148818977702009-04-17T06:33:00.000-07:002009-04-17T06:57:10.924-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I ran out for a haircut. I always hate this event, the problem is my ears "kind of" stick out. My dad used to say I looked like a car going down the street with its doors wide open. When my hair gets longer, this "problem" is not as apparent, I even fool myself into thinking there is no problem. The longer hair hides this blemish. I always hate getting a haircut because I'm

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-67655251046311807822009-04-15T09:46:00.000-07:002009-04-15T10:42:25.134-07:00

I love hanging out with sales people. Most of the sales people I've met are very bright, personable, and very fast on their feet. All of those are characteristics of great sales people. They also represent a critical weakness. They make us sloppy or in the pressure of time, we tend not to prepare, relying on our experience and ability to think on our feet to make sales calls. After all, we've

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-29448855079874867712009-04-10T13:23:00.000-07:002009-04-10T13:44:24.951-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote an article about my experience with a Sales 2.0 tool and the lost opportunity the company had in not trying to learn about why I was cancelling my subscription.My friend, Jill Konrath, saw the post and knew the company I was speaking of. She went to the CMO to make him aware of what had happened. He immediately recognized the lost opportunity and contacted me--not to try to win

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-20051618318557117492009-04-09T12:46:00.001-07:002009-04-09T13:10:57.341-07:00

I've been experimenting for the past 6 weeks with a Sales 2.0 tool. Today, I decided to cancel the service, I wasn't really getting value from it.I sent an email into the company asking to cancel the service (I've paid for the full month, so I asked that it be cancelled effective the end of the month). The company's customer service organization sent me a nice note saying my account has been

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-25845572424649695322009-04-08T06:50:00.001-07:002009-04-08T07:07:06.179-07:00

There's a great article in today's New York Times, Start-Up Course In Survival. It's a great article, but some of the lessons for sales professional are fantastic.The article reviews Jive Software's overhaul of it's business and sales efforts to face the new realities brought on by the economy. John McCracken, Jive's new SVP of Sales reinvented their sales processes to improve focus and

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-90418582434009652572009-04-06T19:09:00.000-07:002009-04-06T19:23:08.002-07:00

I'm a tremendous fan of Whitney Hess. Whitney calls herself a User Experience Designer. When I look at her stuff, I see principles that apply to successful organizational design and to developing high performance selling processes. Some translation is needed---but really obvious. Whitney gives us important lessons not just for User Experience Design but for creating high performing, aligned

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-71719432371652628182009-04-06T13:36:00.000-07:002009-04-06T14:08:21.857-07:00

With this post, any doubt you may have had about me will be eliminated. You will know that I am schizoid, have multiple personalities, or some other disorder. In the last couple of months, I have written a number of times about establishing rich collaborative relationships and partnering with your customers. In this article, you may perceive me as reversing my position.I'm reacting to a lot of

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-14306392008481783192009-04-03T10:01:00.000-07:002009-04-03T10:26:28.304-07:00

I've gotten a number of very positive comments on my post last week: If Your Suppliers Are In Trouble, Then You Are In Bigger Trouble!I wanted to expand on it, and to see if I could expand the dialog in the community----meaning, Please Send Comments---regardless of where you see this, at my blog site, the Customer Collective, Sales Management 2.0, Top Sales Experts, SalesMarks, or wherever. If

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-74982550504045360462009-03-28T06:26:00.000-07:002009-03-28T06:32:30.502-07:00

Zappo's is one of the hottest and most innovative companies around. This is an inspirational presentations by Tony Hsieh, their CEO. There are important lessons in this for any business professional.Zappos - Startup2Startup - 03-26-09View more presentations from zappos.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-29231785626077975832009-03-27T12:07:00.000-07:002009-03-27T12:53:35.761-07:00

I usually direct this blog to sales and business professionals, focusing many of the discussions on the "sell" side issues. For this post, however, I want to focus on the "buy side."A few weeks ago in Moving Beyond Selling To Building Collaborative Relationships, I cited a PWC CEO Survey in which 71% of CEO's believed collaborative business relationships were critical with customers, yet only 40%

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-49405201419579807792009-03-26T07:41:00.000-07:002009-03-26T07:56:13.546-07:00

I've been involved in a few debates over the past few months that seem to be "Old School Sales" versus "New School Sales." They are odd debates.The debates are carried out in the "blogosphere," which, I think, is one of the newer school vehicles. They seem to be carried out by individuals that are actively engaged in using or experimenting with the new tools. Everyone trying to learn about how to

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-2125620994640376072009-03-24T08:03:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:07:34.574-07:00

I have a confession, I grew up selling high tech systems, software and complex solutions. I spent much of my career in selling very complex capital equipment. For years, I had an arrogance that real sales people sold these solutions, everything else was order taking.A number of years ago, several companies having commoditized products managed to overlook my arrogance and asked me to help improve

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-57785811854535442782009-03-23T03:30:00.000-07:002009-03-23T03:30:00.718-07:00

In their 1982 book, In Search Of Excellence, Peters and Waterman coined the acronym: MBWA - Management By Wandering Around. The thought was for managers to literally get close to customers and their people by "wandering around."I thought it time to resurface a variant of that theme: SBWA, Selling By Wandering Around. I'm constantly amazed by how little sales professionals to this.Too many sales

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-43106447057202761872009-03-21T17:52:00.000-07:002009-03-21T17:59:05.982-07:00

With that title, you know I couldn't have come up with this. Why use 8 words when you can use a 1000;-) Great TED presentation by Richard St. John on the secrets of success.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-50606801608733691502009-03-18T15:00:00.000-07:002009-03-18T15:00:00.385-07:00

Leveraging social selling and media is critical to all sales and marketing professionals. We're all struggling with learning the concepts and how we should be adopting our strategies to incorporate social selling and social media.The folks at The Customer Collective are holding a terrific event. I encourage anyone who follows this blog to register and learn.The announcement is below, as well as a

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-36169898417913335862009-03-16T04:00:00.000-07:002009-03-16T04:00:12.759-07:00

I hate to start blogs with a disclaimer or apology, but I was very excited with I saw Geoffrey Moore’s (et. al.) article in HBR on Provoke Your Customer. I deeply respect---in fact hang on most of his words, his writing and work. I’ve crossed every chasm, done the bowling alleys and survived almost every tornado. I was eager to be a student of his new writing about Provocative Selling!It is a

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-14814706993649624232009-03-15T09:27:00.001-07:002009-03-15T12:33:57.639-07:00

If you tend to take yourself too seriously, if you are a consultant who can't laugh at yourself, please -- I beg you -- don't read this column. It has no redeeming value, no real insight, it's just intended to be fun and to poke some fun.I started thinking about this a few weeks ago, when I first read the HBR article about Provocative Selling. I read it, thinking I would learn something new.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-91049252563413313432009-03-14T09:15:00.000-07:002009-03-14T09:23:03.476-07:00

Customers are looking for something different these days. Our traditional approaches to selling are no longer appropriate. As a friend and colleague, Niall Devitt, states, “Buyers are looking for something new!” Other people are saying the new paradigm is “Provocative Selling.”I’m not certain I buy into more consultant speak about a more advanced form of selling, but I think the underlying idea

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-8455367765548578382009-03-13T04:59:00.001-07:002009-03-13T05:21:34.435-07:00

Every sales person (and business professional) knows the acronym WIIFM -- What's In It For Me. Sometimes, unfortunately, I think we have become great practitioners of that mantra --- and that's what does us in, both in how we connect and bring value to our customers, and in the result we actually produce.While every sales person is driven by accomplishing their goals, making the number, we can

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-9727110327300075752009-03-11T16:38:00.001-07:002009-03-11T16:49:48.753-07:00

It was a great privilege to be interviewed by Maureen Blandford the other day for Top Sales Experts TSE Dailies.Maureen and I spent some time discussing the challenges sales professionals have in this economy and changes that are needed to drive success, both now and in the recovery.Take a few minutes to listen, I'd appreciate your feedback and comments!

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-37640359263863595142009-03-11T10:48:00.000-07:002009-03-11T11:02:28.717-07:00

I've been fascinated by Paul Sagan's interview in Network World. I've written many times about how sales people need to go to customers and ask "How can we help?" We need to engage customers in a different conversation.Akamai is engaging it's customers in these new conversations. Sagan "want his sales team to spend more time with customers." They are continuing to be aggressive in finding new

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-89457834520230304922009-03-11T09:23:00.000-07:002009-03-11T10:15:51.029-07:00

I'm reading Price Waterhouse Coopers 12th Annual Global CEO Survey. It has a lot of good information and I encourage you to read it. One issue that leaped out was the importance in the CEO's minds about the importance of building more collaborative strategies.Some interesting data points:57% of the CEO's agree or agreed strongly that collaborative business networks would be a defining

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-63394215666608368902009-03-06T14:59:00.000-08:002009-03-06T16:07:30.497-08:00

I'm sitting in my office doing some work and the phone rings. In answering, some salesperson---doesn't introduce herself asks for (let me call him) Mr. Smith.I'm taken aback(You'll see why later), I respond, "Mr. Smith isn't available, my name is Dave Brock, I'm the president of the company, who am I speaking with and can I help you?"She responds with her name and company---actually a fairly well

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-76913756890325861732009-03-06T07:49:00.000-08:002009-03-06T08:35:20.595-08:00

So we've completed all the layoff's, we've re adjusted our strategies to recognize the new realities of the global economy, and we are rushing forward at 200 mph to drive business. All of a sudden, confusion, crises, and miscommunication dominates our waking moments. Who does what, to whom? What are our priorities? What about the things that Jill used to do, but she's gone? I thought this was my

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-79982320054783624722009-03-02T17:38:00.000-08:002009-03-02T18:10:37.813-08:00

This morning, I had an interesting discussion with a client. He was talking about a specific sales situation. Basically, he said that customers were saying there was no differentiation between the products and services his company offered, versus the competitors. He went on to say, they are seeing this response in more and more sales situations. He was at a loss to deal with it --- or at least

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-58075462101321937362009-02-27T08:49:00.000-08:002009-02-27T09:20:27.568-08:00

Bill George wrote a great article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago: Seven Lessons For Leading In A Crisis. Without going into detail (read the article), the lessons are:Lesson #1: "Leaders must face reality." My views on this are: The key issue here is to be willing to look at and tell the whole truth, including how leaders have failed. Until you face reality, your strategies are

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-64209272668928450512009-02-20T05:14:00.001-08:002009-02-20T05:28:23.872-08:00

Yesterday, I was speaking to a colleague. He had a though provoking observation. One of the companies he is working with has adopted an interesting policy. They refuse to let their sales people use the economy as an excuse---their sales are up 10%.I started thinking about other conversations and reviews I have been involved in and how so many are using the economy as an excuse for not performing.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-72499342996524326642009-02-17T10:31:00.000-08:002009-02-17T10:34:40.413-08:00

There was an interesting thought posed in LinkedIn today: “Good sales people make good sales managers.” It went on to ask the characteristics of good sales managers. The question struck a chord, a dissonant one, provoking me to respond. I’m sure I have missed a lot of characteristics of great sales managers, and would ask for your addition, deletions, edits. Here’s my response and the list I

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-36326740187874810092009-02-17T07:17:00.000-08:002009-02-17T07:21:35.133-08:00

There have been a few versions of this around. I think this is one of the latest updates. Enjoy!

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-30256371155454655312009-02-12T15:30:00.000-08:002009-02-12T15:51:57.766-08:00

A few days ago, I wrote about the secret to sales success---saving customers money. Well there's another secret, that may be more powerful than saving money---help your customers make money! Show them how you can help them increase sales and revenue.Depending on the solutions you sell, it may require doing some real homework. So much of the time we focus on the expense side of the income

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-2328045419241918552009-02-10T17:36:00.000-08:002009-02-10T17:59:19.630-08:00

Today's New York Times had an article: The Secret to Start-Up Success: Save Customers Money. My knee jerk reaction was D-uuuhhh.Then I paused to think, while this is so obvious, how many sales people really demonstrate how they can save their customers money? I thought I would pose a few questions, I'd love your responses:Do you, in every proposal, present a written and compelling business case

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-69361971681713983132009-02-10T13:45:00.000-08:002009-02-10T13:55:26.724-08:00

Welcome To Top Sales Experts 2.0 (TSE 2.0)!Today, we opened the doors on Phase Two of the Top Sales Experts project, and we added a number of new resources, which we have in fact been working on for a number of months. We very much hope that you will want to be part of this forward thinking initiative and join us as we aim to create the most significant online sales orientated location

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-50716315433091355452009-02-08T10:59:00.000-08:002009-02-08T11:32:35.400-08:00

Everyone is talking about value propositions. Google the term and you get 11.3 millions hits. Look at the marketing materials for any company and you will see them extolling their value propositions.Read your company’s “value propositions” and those of your competition. Don’t they sound the same? Can you really differentiate between yours and those of your competitors? If you can’t articulate a

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-70895514353577697492009-02-05T11:39:00.000-08:002009-02-05T11:46:11.185-08:00

First an apology to Guy, I’m a great fan of yours. I’ve read many of your books, follow your blog(s), read and read your articles. I do this because, more often than not, you have interesting insights and something meaningful to say.Please excuse me for using you as an example about my struggle and confusion with Twitter (also, while we haven’t met, I sense you have a sense of humor).I’m a newbie

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-56908480073297371362009-02-05T10:21:00.000-08:002009-02-05T10:26:47.602-08:00

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I am a relative newbie in Social Networking. I’ve belonged to LinkedIn for years, but really haven’t paid attention to it until the past 6 months.About 18 months ago, at Jeff Pulver’s suggestion, I joined Facebook, I’m still trying to figure out how to use it, though it has enriched my relationships with my nieces and nephews—somehow they think I am marginally cooler.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-65480709512749902712009-02-05T09:27:00.000-08:002009-02-05T09:36:10.583-08:00

I've mentioned my affiliation withTop Sales Experts (TSE). It's a fantastic group of people, whose opinions I value. It's been an honor to be associated with them as a "Top Sales Expert."I am delighted to report that Tuesday, February 10 is the Launch date for TSE 2.0. Mark it on your calendar! What is the TSE 2.0 Launch all about?Well, I am not at liberty to reveal details just yet. The final

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-70946573023207280042009-02-03T06:57:00.000-08:002009-02-03T07:22:24.156-08:00

All sales people, today, sell solutions. At least that’s what most sales people say they are doing. If sales people are really acting consultatively, selling solutions, why are so many customers sick of sales pitches? We hear customers saying:"They (the sales people) always come in here pitching their latest products andtechnologies without telling me how it solves our problems." "They say they

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-76179042810103316582009-02-03T06:47:00.000-08:002009-02-03T06:54:29.182-08:00

A client called my attention to an article that I wrote during the last downturn, the Internet Bubble. As I re-read it, it is still applicable.The past year has created new professional and personal challenges. Almost every business faces tough new realities. Focusing their strategies and sharpening execution are the top priorities of most of the executives we work with.I thought it useful share

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-88725413992226362782009-01-24T09:40:00.000-08:002009-01-24T10:56:06.851-08:00

Yes, this is another post about what professional sales is all about.It seems too many of us just spend our time talking about how fantastic our products/services are; how much superior we are to the competition; how the customer cannot afford not to buy our products and services. We focus our time on presenting FAB's: Features, Advantages, Benefits. We spend most of our time on the pitch and

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-72731525916950566242009-01-24T09:28:00.001-08:002009-01-24T09:34:02.060-08:00

Seth Godin seems to come up with the simplest and thought provoking ideas. I can't improve on it, so I will only repeat it. But I encourage you to go to his site, and read this and the 100's of others he has.Seth's idea for the "Easiest Cheap Way To Dramatically Increase Sales:"Call or write your customers, saying:"I know that times might be tough for you. Is there anything I can do to pitch in

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-87132978452619310692009-01-24T07:30:00.000-08:002009-01-24T09:08:59.199-08:00

I'm a great fan of Michael Wade's column in US News and World Report. He just published a provocative article: On-Staff Whistleblowers Can Help Companies Prepare for Disaster. The article was interesting, but I found the comment from "Chris of NJ" most interesting.As many businesses see disaster striking all around, Michael suggests that large organizations charge a small number of bright "

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-33014159861822317752009-01-23T17:10:00.000-08:002009-01-23T17:55:35.451-08:00

Paul Castain raised this issue at LinkedIn. It's an interesting question. Let me reposition it with a challenge I've seen in many organizations.You have a "top sales performer" -- they make their numbers, often lead in the numbers, but don't do a whole number of other things. As Paul raised, they might not spend time bringing in new accounts. they might refuse to do forecasts or update the CRM

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-82502565414106834382009-01-19T08:45:00.000-08:002009-01-19T09:15:39.955-08:00

I get complaints from both sales people and managers on the topic of coaching. Sales people don't feel they are getting the coaching they need---their managers don't have time. Managers, don't feel they are providing the coaching they should---they don't have time (and they don't know how to--but that's another post).Somehow, people have the notion that coaching is something that you do

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-4892133662624625562009-01-19T08:38:00.000-08:002009-01-19T08:44:43.025-08:00

David Batup raised an interesting question on the Sales Best Practices group in LinkedIn. He posed the question: As a sales manager, what would your top 3 activities be?"I couldn't limit myself to 3, but my response is below:"Nice question:Strategically:1. Make certain you have a strong sales process in place, everyone understands why it's important, and how to use it in managing their own

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-21936962470619208032009-01-16T17:22:00.000-08:002009-01-16T17:31:31.394-08:00

It's Friday evening, I'm cruising some of the blogs and other forums as I wind up the day. I saw a question posed on the Sales Best Practices board in LinkedIn. The question concerned the Reputation of Sales, asking about why do we see such bad stereotypes of sales people -- lazy, unprofessional, etc. It went on to ask why people don't like sales people. For those of you that are regular readers

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-5916819580443102432009-01-16T09:50:00.001-08:002009-01-16T10:27:05.920-08:00

Well, I've got your attention with the implied profanity! Sorry about that, but we all know what I mean. We've all seen it, experienced it, even actively participated in it. We all know what is happening.Think of the endless meetings we have, whether they are internal meetings, with customers, suppliers, and others. Everyone presents a polite face. There is an air of "superficial congeniality,"

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-13507747451647751002009-01-15T08:56:00.000-08:002009-01-15T09:01:44.282-08:00

Guest Post By Jeffrey Stanley, Director of Sales Excellence, AT&T MobilityAll sales managers know the problem…we’ve spent months recruiting, interviewing and hiring the right person. The great hire has started, all of a sudden management is complaining: Why aren’t they producing sales?Or even worse, we know that we’ve made a great hire, sent them to training and assigned them a strong territory.

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-40994762948708961172009-01-14T12:24:00.000-08:002009-01-14T12:49:34.588-08:00

Last week, I wrote a post "Stop Assuming Your Know Your Customers, Start Listening To Them! The post stimulated a lot of comments on the different sites it was posted on. Thanks to each of you who took the time to offer your great ideas!In that post, I ranted about the focus sales and marketing professionals seem to have on "Pitching," arguing we need to stop pitching and start engaging our

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-3411666144788107392009-01-11T08:59:00.000-08:002009-01-11T09:29:34.181-08:00

Thanks to Jim Estill, I came across this outstanding post by Tim O'Rielly: Work On Stuff That Matters, First Principles. As you read this post, you are reading the fourth re-write. At first I summarized Tim's post, adding my views. Then I tried expanding on it. As I re-read and edited, I realized I was trying to polish something that didn't need polishing. Read Tim's post, it's important. Then

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-59480775709205050132009-01-09T10:46:00.000-08:002009-01-09T12:13:33.384-08:00

For some strange reason, in the past few days, at least four different executives have called me to speak about changes they see with their customers markets and organizations. The conversations all began at different points, for differing reasons, but seemed to be converging on a central issue: The need for organizations, marketing, and sales to focus on Customer Engagement as critical to

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-9316444958055626362009-01-09T06:09:00.000-08:002009-01-09T07:02:10.743-08:00

Thanks to one of Fred Wilson's recent posts, I discovered Whitney Hess, a user experience designer in New York. She was quoted: "In order to survive, companies have to stop assuming they know their customers and start listening to them." Simple and profound.I spend a lot of my time with business, marketing, and sales executives. Many espouse being customer focused. Many are making good strides,

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-83076559887238926562009-01-08T09:47:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:11:15.086-08:00

I've taken a brief holiday from posting, now am back in full force---partly a reflection of goals I have set for myself, the business, and this blog. Getting started in the New Year had me reflect on setting goals--somehow on January 1, we call them resolutions, the rest of the year they are goals. I am constantly amazed at how casually most people treat goals--particularly those they set for

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-62449627062809165372008-12-26T08:18:00.000-08:002008-12-26T08:41:21.855-08:00

I'm spending the slow time of the Holidays catching up on neglected reading. I just read (or rather re-read) Peggy Noonan's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal: Who We (Still) Are...A Little Perspective For The Pessimistic "Age Of The Empty Suit." It's a great piece, you should read it.In reflecting on the article, I agree with her. Despite the litany of bad news from so many sectors, we

Dave Brock's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06132021762316156394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-6278880854344889922008-12-22T18:10:00.000-08:002008-12-22T18:31:35.318-08:00

Art Petty reminds us in Management Excellence, about Deming's lessons and their continued currency--particularly in light of the crises in leadership we face. Every time I read Deming, it seems that he is speaking of issues that are critical to leaders and organizations at this very moment, yet the work comes from many years ago.While many other business guru's come and go like the latest

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Nina Simosko wrote a great post at the Slow Leadership blog. She addresses the issue of "can you ever have learned enough." Somehow, the answer to the question seems obvious, but as she implies, unwittingly, many seem to have stopped learning. There are all sorts of excuses, probably the most dominant is "I'm too busy," the arrogant ones: "I have such deep experience." The list can go on.

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