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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
“Only The Paranoid Survive”
“Only The Paranoid Survive” was written years ago by Andy Grove, then Chairman of Intel. It told the story of the transformation of Intel from a memory to a microprocessor company. I loved the book, it is featured on my bookshelf—partly because the title is a great reminder. Yesterday, a client and I were discussing the transformation in his organization. We started about 2 years ago with an organization that just wasn’t performing. We undertook a massive transformation, changed about everything–people, processes, tools, metrics, incentives. Virtually nothing was left untouched. Two years later we’ve seen sustained outstanding performance for at least a […]
Late To The Party!
Ever show up to a party late? Groups have formed, everyone’s deeply engaged in conversations, the good food’s gone. When I’m late, I wander from group to group, trying to quickly understand what’s happen in the conversation and join in. Often it’s tough. I’ve missed a lot, sometimes people are good enough to repeat some of what’s going on–to catch me up, but mostly there’s a lot of missing context that makes it difficult to participate fully in the conversation. The same thing happens very often in sales. We discover an opportunity very late in the customer’s buying cycle. Possibly they’ve […]
“Everyone Has A Plan Until They Get Punched In The Face”
I love this quote from Mike Tyson. Most sales people I speak with claim they have a plan–often I think they thought they had a plan, but really didn’t. But whether they do or don’t so many sales people get off course in their sales efforts. They encounter difficulty, are put off their plan, and just play catch up through the rest of the buying process. Some might respond, “Why plan?” That’s a losing strategy. So how do we deal with being “punched in the face.” It happens to all of us in virtually every sales situation, so we need […]
When Are We Going To Understand, It Really Isn’t About The Product!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been on the road constantly, I think I’ve logged over 50K miles, sat in dozens of meetings, account/deal/call/pipeline reviews. I’ve spent a lot of time in airplanes and hotels, so I read lots of stuff–books, magazines, blogs. I keep hearing common themes (and I’m guilty about contributing to many of these themes.) Selling has changed…….buying has changed…..our products, services, solutions are commoditized…..our value as sales people is being marginalized….selling is becoming about transactions…..the needs for sales people is shifting…… and some articles imply the “death of the sales person,” with appropriate cheering from many […]
Fifty Shades Of Forecasting
It’s the end of a frighteningly busy week. So my mind’s fried, and I start considering silly things. A few weeks ago, I wrote “Reality (Sometimes) Sucks!” Don Lafferty provided a great comment in a LinkedIn group. He said, “Funny, my regional sales managers never want reality to get in the way of their forecasts.” Don’s comment got me thinking. I could really write a New York Times Best Seller–in the Fiction category. I’m thinking of calling it “Fifty Shades Of Forecasting.” I am imagining that it will have all the elements of important to a Fictional Best Seller: Lies, Deceit, […]
RFP’s Suck!
My friend Jim Keenan is stirring up the pot with his latest blog post, Finally The Truth About RFP’s. Be sure to read it and the comments. I’ve really mixed feelings about the post, I both agree, and I disagree. Don’t get me wrong, I still think RFP’s Suck, we never respond to an RFP that we haven’t written. And I think that may be the point Jim’s struggling with in his post. By the time the RFP is written and issued, the selling is done. The purpose of the RFP is vendor selection. So if we wait to start our […]