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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
In Tough Times, Do Less, Better!
As we face tougher business and economic times, I see too many organizations implementing frenzied strategies of doing more–more prospecting, more outreaches, more activities, more deals. And along with that, more meetings discussing why things aren’t working and trying to figure out what more to do. There are the endless management mantras focused on belt tightening, and “doing more with less.” But these strategies are doomed to failure. First, we are probably executing this in the face of fewer resources. Perhaps we have fewer people to execute our strategies. Perhaps we’ve had to reduce programs, support, eliminate tools. So the […]
What If You Only Have 100 Potential Customers?
Let’s try a thought experiment. I’ll start with a bit of background. When I look at a lot of the “expert” advice in my social feeds, the emphasis is on how we reach and engage more and more customers. This is critical, at least in the thinking of these experts, because those customers we are trying to engage aren’t responding in the numbers we need. So the solution is to cast a wider net, to try to reach more and more. Using this logic, at some point we are trying to reach the roughly 8B people on the planet (I’m […]
Competence Without Confidence Is Meaningless!
We invest billions in developing the competencies of our sellers. We have endless sales training, product training. We have tools giving them the data and information they need to have meaningful conversations with customers. We have conversational intelligence tools, providing “coaching” to improve their ability to talk to customers. We provide role plays and other tools to help them practice these skills in a “safe” environment. We do everything we can to develop the competencies of our people in engaging with customers. And then they get “punched in the face.” * We try to engage the customer. They haven’t read […]
Situational Awareness…..
The other evening, I just wanted to relax, do something mind numbing. I went to Netflix and one of the old Jason Bourne movies was recommended. I’m a spy/action adventure addict. I love watching these movies, as preposterous as the story line might be. I’ve always loved watching Matt Damon in these movies. He is constantly on “high alert.” His head seems to be on a 360% swivel, taking in everything going on around him, developing strategies for dealing with anything that might arise. Even if he is in deep conversation, he somehow seems to be hyper conscious of what’s […]
In What World Is This Considered Great Prospecting?!??!!!
I know, I know. I shouldn’t get so wound up about the stupidity I see in LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media. I’ve tried not to get wound up. I scan my feeds about 3 times a day, and even that my be a waste of time. I’ve had to pause scanning my feeds, and start closing my eyes, doing deep breathing and meditation during those periods. Otherwise I I’d be ripping what little hair I have out or smashing my computer display. I’m trying, though sometimes fail, just to ignore the “expert” advice guru’s are offering about using ChatGPT […]
We Miss The Point In Asking About “The Future Of Selling!”
Every week, I am asked to participate in a number of interviews/webcast/discussions about the “Future of Selling.” My feed is filled with prognostications about the future of selling–and a surprising number of “gurus” with death wishes proclaiming selling is dead. There are phenomenal changes–new technologies, shifts in global economies, social changes that have a profound impact on sellers. So there are huge changes happening that impact our futures and that of our profession. But asking the question, “What’s The Future Of Selling,” is the wrong question to start with. We can’t begin to predict the future of selling until we […]