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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
Reputation Management And Social Media
I always hate starting a post with an apology or disclaimer, but I must. I’m going to gore some professional colleagues and some close friends. It’s not intended to be malicious, but perhaps it shows that all of us can get caught up in things which, ultimately, adversely impact our reputations and credibility. Building great reputations, creating some level of trust across extended networks takes time and consistency of purpose. Betray that in little ways and it’s like chipping pieces from a stone. Over time you diminish your credibility and reputation, you erode trust. Social media present powerful tools and […]
Using What We Have
I talk to hundreds of sales people and executives each year. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the phase, “If only I/we had……” I could provide my consulting services for free, but still generate huge revenues. (OK, you know I’m a prone to a little exaggeration.) It seems we’re always looking for something more and getting that will solve all our sales problems. It’s an endless litany of, “If I only had….” More leads… Better quality leads…. More products, features and functions…. More competitive pricing… More and better collateral…. More and better sales/marketing programs…. More and […]
Content Will Save Us!
Rightfully so, content is big! It always has been. Content is that stuff marketing leverages in their efforts to create awareness, visibility, and to drive demand. It’s also that stuff sales people use to help with their sales efforts. Content helps our customers understand who we are, what we do, and what we sell. Great content focuses on our customers–who they are, what they are trying to achieve, what they should be trying to achieve and how we can help them achieve it. Great content is relatively specific–to buyer roles, industry, business challenge, and where the prospect or customer is […]
Are You Doing The Work?
We’re all busy. Look at anyone’s calendar, they are filled with meetings. We fill our time with activities—email, tweeting, research, CRM, more meetings–some with customers, more email, forecast and pipeline reviews, deal reviews, presentations, conference calls…… The list goes on. Our time is so valuable, we sit in meetings, not paying attention because we have to email, text, or tweet. Thank goodness for multitasking! We complain about it, we look harried, we feel time pressured, yet we revel in the busyness. In too many organizations, one’s worth seems to be measured by the number of meetings attended. We’re busy, but are […]
Stop Selling If They Aren’t Your Customer!
Wally Bock and I were talking the other day, he posed the question, “What if your products and services are the wrong choice for the customer?” My knee jerk reaction was, “They aren’t your customer!” Too often, we find ourselves in a situation where our solutions aren’t right for the customer. Perhaps they aren’t right, period, or they aren’t right, right now. But if they aren’t right then they aren’t a customer/prospect, and little we can do will change this (The “aren’t right, right now, issue is something we can do something about, but that’s another blog post.) Yet we […]
Are You A Real Sales, Marketing, or Business Pro?
I’m a tremendous fan of Steve Pressfield’s writing. If you haven’t read him, pick up a copy of The War Of Art or Turning Pro. I reread each a several times a year. Every once in a while, when I seem to lose my focus or purpose, rereading either helps me rethink what being a Professional is about. It helps me rediscover what I am here to achieve, As we wrap up the year, reflecting on what it is to be a professional is important, so I thought it would be useful to highlight the qualities Steve says the Professional possess. […]