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Making A Difference – Thoughts, Observations and Opinions
This is Dave Brock’s Blog.
It offers my views on a variety of business, sales, marketing, and leadership topic. My goal is to make a difference for you, the reader, in both your professional and personal lives.
Latest Posts
Making It Safe To Succeed
Recently, I wrote, “Making It Safe To Fail, Hogwash!” It was a rant about the social psycho-babble around failure. We seem to have a culture that revels in failure–that is encouraging people to experiment, learn, innovate, and grow through “making it safe to fail.” Yet, we never talk about the concept of “making it safe to succeed.” Some might think it’s the other side of the same coin. I actually think it’s quite different. Think about it for your own organization, for a moment. As a leader, are you doing everything possible to make it safe for your people to […]
Making It Safe To Fail? Hogwash!
I read an article from a very large consulting company entitled, “Have you made it safe to fail?” Frankly, it’s social psycho-babble. It’s the equivalent of saying, “everyone gets a trophy, regardless of whether they win or lose.” The article will draw eyeballs, but I think they miss the point, consequently much of the value around failure. The authors do, correctly state, that failure is part of the learning process. Something which too many fail to recognize and execute. Too often, we tend to punish failure and we fail to understand what caused the failure, taking corrective action. The authors, […]
If Cold Calling Is Dead, Why Is The Topic So Hot?
Someone tried to suck me into a LinkedIn discussion on cold calling today. The article declaring cold calling dead was written by a colleague I deeply respect, and I have no disagreement with the points in her article. By the time another friend tried to bait me into diving into the discussion, it had been live for 18 hours, there were over 75 reactions and over 52 comments, with many very smart and dull people weighing in. Thankfully, I chose not to dive into this masturbatory debate. But I’ll comment here but not to reach a conclusion. There will be […]
Social Selling, Bar Hopping, And Relationship Commoditization
Listen to the proponents of “Social Selling,” and it is the future of selling. It is the way for us to “develop relationships,” extend our reach, capture new prospects and customers. The Social Selling experts talk about extending the size of your networks, many talking about how many 100’s or 1000’s of connections their methods can help you achieve in weeks. The platforms, themselves, are structured to facilitate making thousands of connections. I remember the early days of LinkedIn, where with each connection, they warned you to only connect with people you know well. In many cases it was very […]
Lessons For Sales Leadership
One of my favorite podcasts is the Lessons For Sales Leadership, hosted by Brent Adamson. Both Brent’s skill as an interviewer and his “heavy hitter” guests make this one of my favorites, and one where I learn from great sales leaders. Part of the reason I like the podcast is that Brent interviews some of the most experienced practitioners in the world. Not consultants or guru’s with an opinion, but senior leaders who, daily, are responsible for guiding the efforts of thousands of people, generating billions in revenue. These leaders are deeply thoughtful about their strategies, customers, and the people […]
Not All Revenue Is “Good Revenue”
You are probably reading this title thinking, “Dave has finally flipped out. We knew he was headed that direction, but he’s gone!” Let me explain myself, revenue is important. But it’s important to look at the composition of that revenue to understand not only how it meets your current goals/objectives, but how it positions your organization/company for future growth. Let’s dissect what good and bad revenue looks like: First, it’s sales responsibility to execute the company strategy in the face of the customer. Stated differently, sales has to sell the entire product portfolio, not just their favorite products. Let’s imagine […]