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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
MS150–Southern California Event.
One of the causes I strongly support and try to “make a difference” in some small way is contributing to the fight against MS. I have a number of friends who have MS and have been active in a number of MS fundraisers and related activities.This past weekend, I participated in the MS150 Orange County to San Diego ride. It’s one of the most fun events I’ve every participated in —- plus we raise a lot of money to fight MS. So far, we have raised close to $2 million.On Saturday morning, our team, the Derailleurs, left Irvine, California at […]
Connecting Versus Relating — The Disappearance Of Real Relationships
There is a great post in the Slow Leadership blog on “Connecting Versus Relating.” It speaks to the breakdown of relationships, transforming them into transactions conducted through impersonal channels like email, messaging, Twitter, Blackberry’s and cellphones. I would also add many of the social networking media. While these “tools” have made all of us much more accessible and available–the emotional connection is lost. Relationships—at least meaningful relationships are built on trust and emotional connections. The new ways we “connect,” while convenient, strips away that connection. It seems to me, the more we substitute these convenient ways to stay visible and […]
First Rule Of Management: Stop Whining, Take Responsbility.
Jeffrey Pfeffer has a very nice column in the Wall Street Journal: Woes? Executive, Blame Thyself. There are several very interesting points: 1. It is typical for executives to blame outside-uncontrollable causes (the economy, etc.). Research shows that companies that blame poor results on internal controllable factors see greater subsequent stock appreciation than those who blamed their problems on external factors. Apparently the market appreciates executives taking responsibility for identifying and addressing challenges. 2. Pfeffer identifies the First Rule Of Management: Don’t act like a victim. There are always things you can do to make things better. So stop whining […]
The Future SalesForce — A Consultative Approach???
Imagine my surprise to receive an email from CRM Magazine with this article featured: “The Future SalesForce — A Consultative Approach.” I was under the impression that a consultative approach to selling has been the hallmark of sales professionalism for the 25+ years that I have been a sales professional. Now I have to apologize, I don’t like to bash the work of other consultants and professionals, particularly some that I respect, as in the case of the authors of this article. I also realize the constraints a short article puts on an author in expressing ideas on very complex […]
Mailing It In! Bad Sales Performance
Linda Richardson has a nice article on EyeOnSales, “Discussing Vs. Sending Price.” She covers the topic very well, I won’t repeat it. I am constantly amazed, however, about the number of sales people that are too busy or too rushed or too sloppy to present their solutions, pricing, and value to customers. It’s never the customer’s responsibility to figure out what value they will get from a solution and to develop the ROI themselves. It’s the obligation of the sales professional to demonstrate and prove the value of their solution to the customer. Not doing this is not only sloppy […]
Corporate Culture Trumps Everything
There is a great article at IMD’s site on “An Unpopular Corporate Culture.” It’s a must read. I think many people underestimate the importance of corporate culture in executing strategies and driving change. Culture is one of those “soft” things—it’s hard to define specifically, it’s hard to develop specific action, worse yet it involves connecting with people in a genuine fashion. It’s so much easier to deal with the “harder” issues like developing strategies, executing programs and action plans, and so forth. Having been involved in a number of turnaround situations and clients facing major challenges, culture can trump everything. […]