Partners in EXCELLENCE - Making a Difference
Blog
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
Stop Networking And Start Building Relationships
I’ve written a number of times about Social Networks and Networking. Today, I read a nice blog entry at thd Dumb Little Man-Tips For Life Blog: Stop Networking and Start Building Relationships.Echoing my thoughts, they write: “Creating working relationships should be the goal of networking, not meeting as many people as possible.” They comment on MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, saying: “We need to shift our goals from numbers and volume to quality and relationships. After all, the point of networking is to connect yourself with others who can help you, as well as you help them. Relationships, communication and trust […]
The "New" Art Of Selling????
I’m somewhat distressed the article that appeared in the January 28, 2008 issue of the Wall Street Journal. It was the column on Theory and Practice, entitled: Next In Line For Reinvention: The Art Of Selling. Both the author of the article, Phred Dvorak, and the author of the Book, Ram Charan seem to have discovered the secret to selling: finding a customer with a problem that you can solve and helping him solve it. What a tremendous insight! I’m sorry, I don’t like to trash others, particularly Dr. Charan. I have liked some of his past books. But have […]
Truth In Advertising — Do You Really Believe The Value You Produce?
I just got an email inviting me to yet another networking site. This was an interesting email, similar to others that I receive. Perhaps this was the straw that broke my back and forced me to comment. This email came from “a friend,” someone I don’t know inviting me to join this website. When you look at the email more carefully, it is part of a blanket email sent by the company trying to recruit members to the site. I find it offensive when companies claim familiarity and a relationship that doesn’t exist. Sending a mail that looked like it […]
The Real Essence Of Strategy
Oren Harari has a great post in his blog on the Real Essence Of Strategy. Simple message, but we forget. “Without a doubt, understanding and coping with competitors is a vital part of competitive strategy. But never forget that the soul of a winning strategy revolves around the pathbreaking value that your organization can create, regardless of what competitors are doing. That’s what excites customers, turns on employees, and brings investors rushing in.”
Fashion In High Technology
I just returned from CES. Not many big stories, though it seems the computer and related technology industries have had an epiphany–fashion in product design is important!!! There was a lot of news about the colors, design, and other factors to increasingly appeal to the sense of fashion. This is not new news! Apple has had tremendous fashion forward design for years (and I’m a PC guy). There have been moments of inspiration in past years. One of the things I think the press has missed, however, is that the while the final form and function are critical deliverables in […]
Prisoners Of Our Own Experience
There was a great article in the New York Times on December 30, Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike. It suggests “as our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off.” While the article focuses on innovation and creativity, we encounter the same issue in our work with clients every day. We all become prisoners of our own experience. By that, the solutions that people look for tend to be the same old solutions that have been used over and over. Organizations and people tend to define their strategies, processes, and approaches to business, based […]