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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
Did You Hear The One About 4 Blind Men And The Elephant?
There’s the old story about 4 Blind Men, one on each side of an elephant, each is asked to feel the elephant in front of them and describe what they “see.” You know the story, each describes the elephant differently because they each had a different perspective. I think this is a good description of selling. I think of 4 of us around the “elephant.” The sales person, two competitors and the customer. I bet you thought the elephant represented the customer, but that’s really not the case. The “elephant” represents the customer needs, requirements, and opportunities. Everyone has a different […]
The Coming Extinction Of The Lone Wolf!
We all know the concept of the “Lone Sales Wolf.” That’s the person sales person that works by themselves managing the territory. Typically, we think of them as cold calling experts, acquiring new customers, building relationships to the level needed to acquire the customer, but probably not good at building the relationships over time. Sometimes we use the word “Hunter,” but a Lone Wolf is very different than a Hunter. A Lone Wolf is very different from a person that sells by themselves. Let’s remember, a Lone Wolf does not play well with others. They are focused on their personal […]
What Should Salespeople Be Doing With Social Media
Social media is changing the way our customers buy and the way in which we engage our customers. Before customers even see us for the first time, they have a great deal of information—not necessarily knowledge—about our company, our products, and our competition. I am often asked, “How should sales professionals be engaging in social media?” The short answer is, I’m not sure—but every sales person must be gaining familiarity and leveraging social media. Social media and social selling is changing everything we do, the pace varies by industry, but every sales person must get familiar with how the world […]
Being “Tactegic”
Earlier this week, I participated in a series of reviews with a sales team. Each sales person was presenting their key deals and what they were doing to win. I was uncomfortable in much of the meeting, but had trouble putting my finger on what was causing my discomfort. Somehow, as I listened, I felt many of the folks were being too short sighted in their strategies. As they presented, they focused on what had just happened in the last calls and how they would respond next. I couldn’t see where they were going in the process, and what they […]
Know Thy Audience!
The other day, I wrote about how even the best of us are seduced into pitching–perhaps when something else might be more appropriate. At the same time, the pitch–or presentation of your solution is important. Too often, however, we don’t have the impact we should in our presentations. It’s odd–this should be where we shine, after all we get to talk about what we want to talk about, what we know, what we have been waiting so long to tell our customers and prospects. No, this isn’t an article about effective presentation techniques. I’m not the one to be talking […]
Even The Best Of Us Can’t Resist The Urge To Pitch!
Recently, I participated in a “discussion,” with a group of people I deeply respect. All of them were heavy hitters and well respected in their disciplines, I was almost embarrassed to be part of such a distinguished group. The topic was a discussion about a particular aspect of sales performance management that I am really interested in, I was looking forward to learning some new ideas and approaches in the discussion. I went to the meeting, the leader started the discussion, and the pitch began. It turned out, the leader was trying to enlist partners in selling something and acquiring […]