Partners in EXCELLENCE - Making a Difference
Leadership
True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well. —Bill Owens
Leadership is critical to success, whether self-leadership or organizational leadership. Too often, we confuse leadership and management. Both have their place, but leadership enables organizations to achieve.
We provide a variety of programs to support the development of leaders. Whether it is their role in the organization and how to perform. Developing/implementing strategies, setting performance goals and dealing with performance challenges. Or managing performance and maximizing engagement. Or coaching and developing people in their teams.
Our programs and consulting can be offered at the organizational level, working with people in developing a strong leadership capability within the organization.
We also work at the individual level, serving as coaches or mentors to individuals, maximizing their ability to lead and helping them to move forward in their careers.
Leadership Posts
We Need To Be More Efficient!
My feed is filled with all sorts of posts focusing on efficiency and time management. We are time poor (not new news), we have more to work than the time available to do it. There are endless technologies that focus on helping us accomplish more in the same or less time. Tools that automate much […]
What About Our Competitors???
We are obsessed with our competition. We study them and their strategies. We compare them, their solutions, their capabilities to ours. We read their reviews, reveling over the customer complaints, trying to figure out how to leverage them into our strategies. We develop playbooks and battlecards to help position ourselves. And then there’s the comparison […]
What Problem Is Your Customer Trying To Solve?
My friend Hank Barnes wrote an outstanding post, Clarifying Objectives To Gain Consensus. In the post, he outlined a major reason customers struggle with buying is because of conflicting objectives within the buying team. We shouldn’t be surprised by this, yet, based on some of the discussion it seems we are. Let me give an […]
Pipeline Management
The sales pipeline is, perhaps, one of the most misunderstood things in selling. We know the pipeline is critical to helping us answer the question, “Are we pursuing enough opportunities to achieve our goals?” We harass sellers to use CRM, keeping their opportunities updated so we can track our pipelines. Yet, too often, they are […]
Coaching Is A Language!
I wish I were smart enough to be the originator of this term, “Coaching is a language…” All credit goes to Aaron Evans for this term. Coaching is not something we do, it’s not a meeting we schedule with the people we are responsible for. It’s not a specific activity, though we tend to treat […]
Normal Distributions Aren’t Really Normal…..
Consultants, like me, market researchers, and technology vendors love normal distribution charts. They are a, sometimes, useful way to look at performance or data on large groups and data sets. For example, when we look at very large organizations, let’s say 1000 sales people. Inevitably, we find the data distribution along virtually every aspect of […]
“Can You Help Us……?”
“Can you help us…….” is music to every seller’s ears. It’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s the “Ka–Ching” that sounds when we hit the jackpot. It’s the foundation of all inbound. We leap into action demonstrating how our products answer the customer’s question, we talk about how we are […]
On Layoffs…..
I read an important article by Elizabeth Spiers, Layoffs by Email Show What Employers Really Think of Their Workers. Please take the time to read it, it’s more important than this post. In the past year, we’ve seen 100’s of thousands of layoffs, particularly in technology segments. As Ms. Spiers outlines, as tragic as these […]
Managing Your Manager
If we are to be successful in achieving our goals–both for the short term and longer term developmental goals, we have to manage our managers. We have to get them to help us getting things done, learning and growing. We need them to focus, with us, both on our short term goals, but also on […]
“Customers Are Taking A More Measured Approach To Their Purchasing Decisions”
In announcing reductions at Salesforce yesterday, Marc Benioff was quoted, saying customers “are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions.” We’re taking deep breaths, trying to understand what that means, looking at how we, sellers, respond and move forward. What does it take to succeed? Pile onto this all the shifts in buyer […]
Leadership Testimonials
"After reading the Sales Manager Survival Guide and being impressed with David’s expert understanding of sales and relevance to our industry, we engaged David directly for a Sales Manager coaching program. The content was excellent and David’s engagement with our managers was outstanding. I highly recommend David and Partners In Excellence if you want to take your sales to the next level. " Brad Colledge, Executive General Manager
“I was asked to take the role of managing a sales organization. Having no prior sales experience, the task seemed quite daunting. Thankfully, David Brock was there to give me direction and encouragement. Yes, David helped me understand the sales process; however, more importantly, David provided me with firm, but supportive critique that has proved invaluable to me. David never soft-pedaled his approach with me. Instead, he spoke to me as an executive, and expected me to live up to the call. In addition to direction, David provided me with the encouraging words that I needed to believe in myself, and that I could be successful in my new role. “ Scott Dixon, Managing Director
“Dave sets himself apart in the industry with his ruthless focus on preparation and sales discipline. Dave's mentorship and coaching is designed to ensure I focus on the most qualified opportunities, bring exceptional value to each customer interaction, and win more deals. He has been an indispensable mentor and transformational influence.” Mary Grogan Strain, Business Development Manager
“Dave Brock literally wrote the book on sales management! Dave provides critical insights that are thought-provoking and directional. Better yet, Dave not only provides a different perspective, but he also has the ability to work with clients to build solutions that positively impacts sellers and coaches alike.” Jim Wood, Vice President of Sales
One of the greatest gifts a coach can give to a coachee is to help them think more accurately about themselves, about their challenges, and about the various ways they go about solving those challenges. But Dave’s gift is something more. So much so that Dave’s helped me to fundamentally shift the way I think to begin with. This process has resulted not only in increased performance, but in a continual learning process that hasn’t stopped since our first coaching session. It’s an honor to call him my coach and a privilege to continually learn from him, even on the days between our coaching sessions! - Nate Tutas
When I was about to move into my first sales management role I reached out to Dave after I had read his book that really resonated with me. It was fantastic to have Dave as a coach and sounding board during those first months and it really put me on the right track to succeed in the sales management role and also set the foundation for me to progress from that. Didrik Moe, EMEA General Manager