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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
Insight, It’s Not Just For Customers!
Over the past 3 years, Insight has been one of the top discussion issues for sales and marketing professionals. We’ve all been immersed in the importance of changing how we engage customers. We know we have to talk to them about their problems, opportunities, areas in which they can improve. We know we have to teach customers–not about our products/services, but about how to improve their business. We know we have to bring Insight! While we’ve focused on the customer (which is a good thing), all the lessons we learn about Insight have many other applications. The tools and methods […]
“….And This Is What It Means To You”
Insight is all the rage. We’ve rediscovered the concept of teaching our customers, bringing them ideas, helping them think differently. It’s actually not that new, great sales people tend to do this naturally. However, all the writing, training, and tools around Insight are important in helping build nimbleness around developing, communicating, and engaging customers in commercial teaching. Marketing is developing attractive content, hoping to develop higher levels of interest and customer engagement. Legions of sales people, fresh out of training, are being unleashed on customers, hoping to inspire them with the latest Whiteboard, Prezi, and PowerPoint presentations. All presenting compelling infographics, […]
Stuck In A Boring Meeting?
I read an interesting post by Geoffrey James, Stuck In A Boring Meeting, 6 Ways To Be Productive. Before, I get on my high horse, I have to admit that I’m guilty of virtually every technique he outlines (plus a few more). As much as I try to fight it, too often, I have horrible meeting habits. Usually, in face to face meetings, I’m engaged–though often, it’s a struggle. I shut my computer, I don’t let my attention get diverted to my smartphone, I do the best I can to remain present and an active participant. Conference calls, web-conferences are […]
How Do You Help Your Customers Make Money?
Ultimately, in every B2B sales conversation, we have to answer one question, “How do we help our customers make money?” Every business (for or not for profit) has a mission, strategies, goals and objectives. But ultimately, their ability to continue to execute their mission is based on their ability to make money. It’s that ability that funds everything they do. When they stop making money, they cease to exist. As sales people, we have to be able to answer that question–ideally, we put together a business base that quantifies how much money we help them make. I write a lot about […]
Leading From Behind A Desk
There are too many managers who “lead” from behind a desk. Here’s how to recognize one: They haven’t visited a customer in the past 30 days. They haven’t talked to a customer on the phone in the past week. Their interest in customers is the transaction/deal, not the value created for the customer. Their sales people are afraid to have them visit customers because they don’t create value. Their primary source of information on “what’s happening,” comes from CRM, or reports. They overload their people with paperwork and administration. The majority of their time is spent in internal meetings with […]
Who Are We Building Relationships With?
As sales people, we know relationships are important. I hear comments all the time, “Sales is a relationship business.” “Sales is a people business.” We are learning the importance of networking to increase the breadth and depth of our relationships. We nurture those relationships to build trust and confidence with out customers. In building relationships, we use terms like “connecting,” “creating value,” “earning the right.” We seek to develop relationships where we become trusted advisors. But sometimes, I wonder, “Who are we building relationships with?” Sometimes, I think we are building relationships with our devices and technologies. I think we […]