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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
“I’ve Never Ever Sold A Computer Or Piece Of Software”
Many of you know that I spent much of my career in IBM, starting as a sales person moving into the management ranks. Over that period of time, I think either the teams I led or I collected billions in revenue from the computers and software we shipped to our customers. In spite of those billions in revenue, I never sold a computer or software system. What I sold was: The ability to cut years and $10’s of millions in development costs in designing a new airplane or car. The ability to reduce waste and scrap in the foundry process […]
Just Good Enough–The Minimum Viable Sales/Marketing Strategy
Anyone familiar with the work of Eric Ries in the Lean Startup or Steve Blank’s books know the concept of the Minimum Viable Product. Their works focus on the need to for rapid experimentation, learning, and improvement in bringing new products to the markets. For years, I’ve been a proponent of “Just Good Enough,” as a sales or marketing strategy. Perhaps in today’s context, Just Good Enough might be called The Minimum Viable Sales/Marketing Strategy. Too often, I think we fail to change and adapt rapidly enough. We’re a business culture of careful planning, risk avoidance, fear of making mistakes, […]
Band Aid Management Or Sales Management Operating System?
The job of the sales leader is to maximize the performance of the organization. It’s the leader’s responsibility to make sense of the various pieces/parts that impact individual and organizational performance. The sales leader has to make sure the organization is working as effectively and efficiently as possible, executing the corporate strategy with the customers. But, we can’t maximize organizational performance unless we have a framework upon which we base our decisions. Yet too often, that’s what happens with too many organizations. We have nothing in which to ground our decisions, no framework, context or structure to guide us. We […]
The LinkedIn “Invitation”
I’m receiving a surprisingly–and disappointing—large number of “unusual” invitations to connect in LinkedIn. Here’s one I’ve had sitting in my Invitation “Inbox” for a couple of days. I’m confused, I don’t know how to handle it, so I’m seeking your help: ” [So and So] has indicated you are a fellow group member of [This Group]· If you are a VP of Sales who understands [this aspect of sales tools] and desires to stay-in-the-game, but stay off the road, this email is for you. Become a reseller of our [sales tools] software and process. Investigate us at [Company Website] and […]
The “Remora Fish” Of Sales 2.0 Tools
I was asked my opinion on the rapid proliferation of Sales 2.0 tools by a couple of colleagues. As I thought about it, I was reminded of the “Remora.” I hesitate using the Remora as an analogy for the rapid proliferation of Sales 2.0 apps. Technically, the Remora fish (sometimes called the suckerfish) attaches itself to larger fish and the suck parasites from the larger fish. It’s great for larger fish–it helps them keep healthy. It’s great for the Remora, they grow and thrive. The plase where the analogy breaks down tragically, is thinking of customers as “parasites.” So please […]
“Is There Anyone Else We Should We Be Talking To?”
Sometimes we become so task focused, we lose site of the bigger picture and what we could be doing. We’re working a deal with a prospect. They’re spending time with us, we are learning their requirements, moving through the buying cycle. We’re caught up in the deal, in trying to move forward. And we forget something critical, we forget to ask, “Is there anyone else we should be talking to?” We eventually win the deal, we thank the customer for their business, we’re happy to have won and move on. We forget to ask, “Is there anyone else we should […]