Partners in EXCELLENCE - Making a Difference
Sales Performance
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Results are about performance. Sustained great results is about maximizing performance over time. The foundation to great performance lies in purpose, culture, values, and leadership. Performing well s developing the right strategies, the right organizational structures, putting the right talent in place, identifying the right processes, programs, systems, tools and metrics. Finally, it is about consistent execution. It’s about organizational and individual habit formation.
We work with clients in all aspects of maximizing performance. Whether it is developing strategies, recommending programs, putting the right structures and talent in place. Developing and implementing the right processes, systems and tools.
It may involve assessing current capabilities, both organizational and individual. Or assessing market and industry changes, developing recommendations for responding to those changes.
Finally, it’s about consistent execution. Training people in what needs to be done and best practices in doing these things. Measuring progress, putting corrective actions in place.
We are a collection of operations focused executives, working with our clients in developing their strategies, putting everything in place to implement those strategies, developing and supporting the change management efforts, supporting and refining the execution, then continuing to refine these to drive constant improvement.
Our goal is to help individuals and organizations to OutPeform their competition.
Sales Performance Posts
Stop Coaching The Deal, Playing Whack-A-Mole In Our Coaching
Once a manager accepts that coaching is the job, the next problem shows up immediately. What do you coach? Here’s what is on everyone’s list: Discovery. Qualification. Objection handling. Managing the deal strategy. Pipeline hygiene. Forecast accuracy. Prospecting. Account planning. Using the methodology. Using AI. And that’s just the start. These lists never end. Every […]
Everyone Agrees Coaching Matters…
…Almost No One Does It Most front line sales managers don’t know that coaching is their job. They were the best seller on the team. That’s why they got promoted. And no one told them the work had changed, so they kept doing the thing they were good at, just from a higher position. Taking […]
We Keep Falling Out Of Alignment
We depend on each other. I do my job so you can do yours. You do yours so the person next to you can do theirs. That dependence is the whole reason alignment matters. If none of us needed anyone else, we could each go our own way and it wouldn’t cost anything. But we […]
Comp Plans Aren’t Your Problem!
I’ve never dreamed of writing about commissions or comp plans. Everyone has their own views about them, and no single answer is right. I have close friends who argue fiercely against commissions, and they lead some of the highest-performing organizations in the world. I’ve also worked with organizations with very strong comp and commission plans, […]
Feedback On Everything Is Feedback On Nothing
I keep seeing the same story, told with minor variations, across my feeds. A team deploys an AI tool that captures every activity: every call, email, meeting. The tool reviews everything, analyzes everything, generates feedback and recommendations on each activity. The author, usually the developer of the tool, brags: “Setup took minutes. No engineers, no […]
Where’s The Differentiation?
We have all sat through the same conversation. The customer has built their short list. Three alternatives, maybe four. We’re one of them. And as we look at the list, if we are honest with ourselves, we know any of these solutions will solve the customer’s problem. The features overlap. The functions are the same. […]
Doing The Work
We tend to treat performance problems as knowledge problems. If the results are disappointing, surely the people don’t know what to do. So we train them again. We send them to another workshop, build another playbook, roll out another methodology, buy another tool. And then we are puzzled when nothing changes. But walk into almost […]
“Don’t Follow Your Passion!”
Marc Andreessen recently offered career advice to young people. “Don’t follow your passion. Your passion is likely dumb and useless. Make it your hobby, not your work. Instead, find the hottest, most vibrant part of the economy and figure out how to contribute. Make yourself valuable, and increase that value every day.” At first glance, […]
Choosing The Easier Work And Calling It “Management”
Every day, I see new tools being announced. These tools, apparently, turn things upside down. We can see reports that were previously unimaginable. Examples of new reports and dashboards fill my inbox or social media feeds. AI is giving us the capability to keep our pipelines and forecasts updated with the latest changes in real […]
Fixing The “Noise” Does Not Fix The Problem
We’ve seen it before. The scenarios are different, but what lies beneath them is always the same. A crisis hits. A big customer leaves. A quarter gets missed. Key people quit. Something breaks. Leaders spring into action. The first reaction is always the same. “We have to fix the problem!” And the fix focuses on […]
Performance Quotes
““Dave helped us translate our strategic planning process from an annual exercise into the development of a plan the whole organization could get behind and execute. With Dave's support, the team came together and established a clear focus and priorities. The team felt the process was valuable in developing a pragmatic plan, focused on executing those things most critical to achieving the objectives our leadership team had established. Finally, the process established a solid framework for future strategic plans. Dave not only delivered on his commitments but delivered more than was expected.” Vice President Strategy and Planning
“I got a recommendation from a business colleague to reach out to Dave regarding our sales process for our startup. So I did and shot out an email where I asked for some tips on how to better leverage our sales process. Dave responded the same day where he asked if we could hop on a call, and of course, I was a bit amazed at his willingness to go head-on with our current challenges. During our conversations, I told him about a recent deal that had stalled and asked if he had any advice on how to get in a better position moving forward. He gave me some good advice and I also got two action points I could execute immediately. The following day I had a client meeting where I held a presentation and I took one of the action points into that meeting. After the presentation was completed I got the deal, and the client highlighted the expertise we had shown with our offer. Dave’s recommendation was perhaps the one thing I felt was the game changer from what we had done in the past.” Eivind Jonassen, Cofounder and CEO
“As a result of the program on Value Propositions, we have turned around and closed sales of more than $60 million within 45 days of implementing the principles you taught us.” Senior Vice President of Global Sales
“We brought David into our company to help us with our sales and go-to market strategies. His thoughtful and systematic approach exposed areas for improvement which resulted with an improved plan. All our employees benefited, especially when each of our team members shared their knowledge and practical experience across our group. We ended up a stronger, more cohesive and focused team due to David's leadership.” Ray Connelly, Vice President of Supplier Strategy
"Partners In EXCELLENCE differentiate themselves from other consulting firms we've used by providing practical implementable deliverables and then providing support and guidance during execution. Most consultants use a canned, one-size-fits-all methodology…. Because Dave Brock has real world experience in sales, marketing and management, his recommendations are tailored to his client's environment and are readily implemented." Vice President, Marketing
“In the past couple of years David has been a critical mentor, coach and partner to me. Throughout our engagements we together developed the Sales Execution Framework (SEF) which has been foundational for the continuous personal and professional development of my team, especially in the areas sales process mechanics, sales process, sales methodology and our operating system. Hands down this is the main reason why we realized high double digit profitable growth in the past couple of years and are confident we can sustain that in the years to come" Rene Voorhorst, Senior Head Global Account Management
