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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
Are Your Sales Metrics Aligned With Your Business Strategy?
Not long ago, I spoke with a frustrated CEO. His company was doing OK, but somehow not meeting his expectations . Like many companies, thee customers needs were changing quite profoundly. They were rapidly shifting their solution offerings to match customer needs and to compete. They were investing in new areas, had launched some products to expand the value they could bring to their target customers. But the product sales weren’t taking off as he had expected. The CEO felt that shifting focus to many of the new products was critical to their future success. He believed, over time, reliance […]
There’s A Reason Gyms Don’t Hire Morbidly Obese Trainers
We’ve exited the Holiday Season in the US. Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, the New Year are all past, we are anxiously setting goals for the New Year. We’ve probably overindulged, we have the guilt feelings and decide to go back to the gym, maybe hire a personal trainer. Imagine walking into the gym, looking for a personal trainer. There are two to select from. One’s morbidly obese. He’s planted in a chair–possibly two, he struggles to stand, huffs and puffs to walk you around the gym, can’t demonstrate any of the exercises you should be doing. He starts wheezing, cuts […]
Crossing The Chasm: What We Care About Versus What Our Customers Care About
There is a huge chasm between customers and our own sales and marketing initiatives. This is nothing new, yet it’s what keeps us from connecting with our customers and prospects. It’s what causes our customers and prospects to shut down, ignoring our best efforts to engage them and sell them something (you can begin to see the challenge with that statement.). The problem is pretty natural, but it keeps us apart. Simply stated, we care about what we care about and our customers care about what they care about. Until those are aligned, until they are the same, there is […]
Is Sales Really About Sharing Content?
To some degree, a major function of sales people has been to be an information or content concierge. Before Al Gore invented the internet, sales people were a principal source of information about products and solutions. Customers didn’t have the internet, their sources of information were limited to what they read in trade journals, what they learned at conferences, perhaps information they may have received in the mail, or speaking to colleagues and sales people. Today, while customers can solve a lot of their information needs by letting their fingers walk through Google, part of the role of sales people […]
Uncompromising Dedication!
This morning I was struck by some very kind words in a note from Dan Waldschmidt on my 2017 Charity:Water Campaign. Two words struck me, “Uncompromising Dedication.” While Dan’s comments are overly generous, as we look to the New Year, it strike me that “Uncompromising Dedication” might be watch words for all who are trying to achieve and make a difference. Whether it is with their customers, in their jobs, with their colleagues, their families, or communities. Uncompromising Dedication is so simple, yet so powerful. I can’t begin to outline all the dimensions, but I’ll a few ideas. What would […]
Delivering Insight–What Happens Next?
The CMO and Sales VP were reviewing their latest programs to get their people delivering insight to their customers. They went through a series of provocative issues and insights–each tuned to a specific set of problems and challenges. Each offered a unique point of view, helping the customer think differently about the business. Each was tuned to a specific persona. The work was quite good. I asked, “What happens next?” They looked at me, “What do you mean? Our sales people deliver these insights early in discussions with customers.” I respond, “After they’ve delivered the insight, what happens next?” This […]