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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
How About Hanging Out Where Your Customers Hang Out?
When I started my sales career, I sold computers to large banks on Wall Street. It seemed obvious at the time–and since–that the way to really understand what was going on in the industry and with my customers was to hang out where they did. I started going to things like the American Bankers Association meetings, I read their journal. That was where you really learned what was going on in the industry. I have lunch in the cafeteria’s of my customers, talking to people, learning what was going on. In some cases, I found it funny, my customers would […]
You’ve Got New Ideas, New Programs, But What Are You Stopping?
I’ve spent much of my time over the past few weeks participating in a number of sales kick-off meetings. January is always a great month (at least for those on an calendar fiscal year). It’s when we get to start all over. Whatever happened last year is behind us. We start anew, we have new quotas, perhaps some shifts in strategies and priorities, and many new sales programs and initiatives. Hmmm…. many new programs and initiatives…. This is where I start becoming a little concerned. In too many of the meetings, executives, product managers, marketing people, sales executives talk with […]
What Kind Of Example Do You Set For Your People?
Yesterday afternoon, I was in JFK waiting to board a plane. I’d had a long day, nothing to eat, and a 6 hour flight with only the prospects for a bag of peanuts in front of me. Even though it was only about 20 minutes until boarding, I decided to stop in the restaurant next to the gate. I asked the hostess if 20 minutes was enough time to order, get served and eat. She reassured me that I could and seated me. I was near the kitchen, 10 feet away from me, the manager stood with a huddle of […]
Never Ask A Question If You Don’t Know The Answer
There’s the common saying in court room proceedings that a lawyer should never ask a witness a question unless they know the answer. Sometimes, I get the feeling sales people feel the same way. Too often, it seems that sales people’s questioning strategies are not really oriented about discovering the customer’s needs, priorities, and requirements. Instead, they seem oriented to getting the customer to say a specific thing or respond in a specific manner. Once the sales person hears the desired response, they launch into “the pitch.” Or possibly in reviewing the opportunity with a manager, the sales person says, […]
Do You Trust Yourself And Your People Enough To Let Go?
I hear from sales people all over, “My manager won’t let go!” “She’s micro managing me!” As I listened to these complaints, as I started to watch and see this happening, I begin to wonder, as managers do we trust our people enough to let them be successful? Too often, I see well intended managers constantly riding their people. Checking in with them before and after each sales call, “What’s your plan?” “How did it go, what are the next steps?” Or in reviewing deals, they go on autopilot, “Here’s what you need to do next……” When I try to […]
Should Sales People Be Blogging?
I’ve been reading a lot of opinions about sales people blogging–many favoring this. Frankly, I think this is dead wrong, from a business point of view, I’m not certain that sales people blogging is an efficient or effective use of their time. Don’t get me wrong, I think all sales professionals should be actively participating and leveraging social media, but I don’t see a whole lot of value in having sales people blogging–at least regularly. What do we want sales people to blog about? Perhaps they could “pitch our products,” they could write about our products, features, functions, feeds and […]