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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
Sales Force Ineffectiveness, Conjecture On The Future Of The Profession, Part 2 of 3 — Not Just A Sales Problem
In the first part of this post, I focused primarily on the sales function and challenges we have created for ourselves. However, what we face is not just a sales problem.There are some things that keep us from being as effective as possible that are not just the “fault” of sales people, but which do contribute to our inability to sustain high levels of effective performance. Some of it is “business culture”—in general, some of it is “regional culture”—that is North American, European, Asian, and so forth. Some of it is “industry culture.”These represent attitudes, behaviors, practices, expectations by all […]
Sales Force Ineffectiveness, Conjecture On The Future Of The Profession, Part 1 of 3
Let me start with an apology, I will probably gore everyone’s ox in this post. My intention is not to pick on any group of sales professionals, but to start a discussion about the state of the profession and to stimulate ideas on how each of use—as individuals, leaders, influencers might improve the practice of the profession. I’ve actually split this post into two, Part 1 addresses issues that are primarily driven by sales. Part 2 looks at systemic business issues, beyond sales, that impact how we perform. Part 3 focuses on what we can do about these issues, both […]
Tips For Selling To Manufacturers
Thanks to the folks at TheCustomerCollective and Oracle for sponsoring a terrific eBook, Selling Through A Slump. It’s a great resource for every sales professional. You really should download the eBook and use it as your playbook to help you in growing your sales within different market segments. I was asked to write the section: Selling To Manufacturers. To tantalize you to read more in the eBook, I’ve published the tips I recommended below: Selling to Manufacturers Yes, we know the story, the manufacturing sector is had hit. Plants are closing, companies are looking to get rid of excess capacity, […]
What’s It Take To Be A Major Account Rep?
The other day, a sales person I had coached a few years ago called me up. He was getting a big promotion to handle one of his company’s largest customers. He called to ask me what it took to be an outstanding major accounts rep. The guy was already a great customer focused sales person, so we didn’t spend much time on those areas. I reeled a number of thoughts off the top of my head. I know I’ve missed some, it would be great to have your ideas. The non-prioritized thoughts were: The major account rep has to understand […]
Will Your Supplier Still Be Here Tomorrow?
For regular readers of this blog, you know I’ve been evangelizing rich collaboration and expressing concern about the health of the Supply Chain. If you want to re-read the post: If Your Suppliers Are In Trouble, Then You Are In Trouble. I’m not the only person concerned about this. Today, I read an interesting article in CFO Magazine: Will Your Supplier Still Be Here Tomorrow? The article focuses on the supply chain in the automotive industry, but the issue applies to all industries. Why write about this in a blog that focuses so much on Sales and Marketing? It’s easy, […]
Selling Through A Slump
This new ebook from 11 top sales professionals and bloggers (yes, I’m putting myself in that category–at least for the moment) focuses on simple advice on Selling Through The Recession. Sponsored by the folks at TheCustomerCollective and Oracle CRM, we look at 11 industries, providing the top 10 tips, in each, for identifying opportunities, supporting your customers and growing the business. It’s simple and pragmatic advice for every sales professional. In addition to the great advice, the eBook is Free! How can you beat that? Download This Free eBook Selling Through A Slump: An Industry by Industry Playbook brings together […]