Innovation
“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things. “ Theodore Levitt (1925 – 2006), Renown economist
Innovating, continuously, is critical to sustained growth and success. But too often, we misunderstand and underexploit innovation. We tend to think of innovation as groundbreaking inventions, technologies, and business models.
But innovation represents so much more. Incremental innovation helps us continuously improve that which we already do. Improving our effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, and performance is critical for each of us, every day. Leaders must continuously drive performance improvement with everyone in the organization.
Innovation is not just about creating new things, it is about thinking and doing things differently. It is recognizing that what got us to where we are is probably insufficient to getting us where we want to be, we have do change.
We provide a rich set of workshops, tools, methods, and processes to support constant innovation—both within our own organizations and helping our customers innovate.
Innovation Posts
Change, Do We Really Understand It?
Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a trite saying, but “The only constant in life is change……” Let me go through a few more just to get them off my chest: Thanks for your patience, I need to get those out of my system. As much as we tire talking about the constancy of change, our […]
Read MoreCommitted To Not Changing!
We spend 100’s of millions on SKO speakers, books, and training–all focused on doing the things that drive business, sales and marketing performance. We are inspired by thousands of articles, podcasts, and videos–each offering the same answers to what we have to do to be successful. (I contribute my fair share to the clutter.) We […]
Read MorePrice, Cost, Value Propositions, Value Realization, Value Creation……
“Value” is a critical concept in everything we do, but particularly when we are engaging customers, hoping to present a solution they will buy. Yet too often, we and our customers misunderstand the elements around “value,” as a result, we fail to leverage value to it’s greatest impact. Most of the time, we and our […]
Read MoreWhat Should We Be Reading?
I was speaking to a group of sales people. During the Q&A, a salesperson asked me, “What are your favorite books on sales? What should we be reading?” There are lots of outstanding books on selling. While the basic principles at the core of high performance selling are the same, each book has a slightly […]
Read MoreGenerative AI, Telling Us What We Already Should Know?
Our feeds are filled with hacks, prompts, “cheat sheets” offering things like, “What are key decision maker roles for this….? What are qualifying questions….? What are trends…..? How do I handle objections….?” I take these hacks, trying them out myself. At best, I get responses that are mediocre and non specific. For example, “CFOs care […]
Read More“Should We Do Things Differently?”
The key opportunity we sellers face is our customers posing a question to themselves, “Should we do things differently?” This is the critical question that initiates a change process, creating opportunities that we can pursue. Sometimes, there are things that provoke the customer to pose that question of themselves. Performance problems, missed goals, competitive challenges, […]
Read More“Why I’m So Interested In Selling,” Carlos Hidalgo
Preface: Surprise!! Marketers sell! At least Carlos Hidalgo sells. Sometimes, “we” have mis-conceived notions about selling, thinking that only those in some sort of formal sales role sells. But selling goes far beyond the titles. And some of the very best have never had a selling title. Carlos is one of those. Carlos nets it […]
Read More“Why I’m So Interested In Selling,” G. Page Singletary
Preface: My relationship with Page Singletary is actually a couple of months old. He was in the audience of a webcast. Immediately after that, he started sending me questions and ideas. Since then, we have constant conversations–and a few debates—about selling. I love Page’s perspective, it comes from deep thinking and deep reading from a […]
Read More“Why I’m So Interested In Selling,” Jack Malcolm
Preface: Jack Malcolm is a close friend and someone I count as a mentor. Our relationship didn’t start that way, in fact it was contentious. Fortunately, we saw past our differences. Jack has written one of the best books on business/financial acumen, I ‘ve ever read: Bottom Line Selling. He’s also written one of the […]
Read More“Why I’m So Interested In Selling,” Emre Vatansever
Preface: Emre Vatansever and I met a couple of years ago on LinkedIn (See it can work). We found ourselves hanging out in many of the same discussions, he eventually reached out, and we continue our discussions in emails and in commenting on posts. He has a fascinating background in coaching, consulting, and working in […]
Read MoreTestimonials
“In a world populated by many, many self-proclaimed "thought leaders," Dave is the real deal--perhaps more than anybody I've met since I've been studying the sales, service and customer experience space. His perspective is informed by deep experience as an executive and business leader himself and by an insatiable curiosity about what's next in the field. I ALWAYS read what Dave posts and make it a regular habit to read anything he writes. We've spent hours together talking about business, new emerging technologies, the latest human psychology and behavioral economics work, you name it. Whenever I have a new idea for a book or article or blog post, he's one of the few people I tend to run the idea by...because he always makes it sharper and generally (though not always successfully) keeps me from sticking my foot in my mouth 🙂 If you have an opportunity to work with him, you should jump at the opportunity. You'll be very glad you did.” Matt Dixon, Co-Author, Challenger Sales, The Challenger Customer, The Jolt Effect, Co-founder DCM Consulting.
“It is DecisionLink's, and my, very good fortune to engage and collaborate with Dave. His brings vast knowledge, extensive skills and laser sharp insight to the sales and marketing domain...and much more. In a world overwhelmed with complexity and rife with buzz-words, fads and cookie-cutter approaches, Dave cuts through the chatter to hone in on the things that matter, that make an impact, that "advance the ball".
Perhaps more important, he is a wise steward of his talents. He gives unselfishly and takes an approach that "my best interest will be found in the best interests of my customers, partners and colleagues". Admirable...and smart.
A word of warning. If you work with Dave, lace 'em up and bring your best effort. It will be a challenge to keep up. It will be rewarding if you do.
Finally, Dave is a pleasure to be around. His reputation, character and integrity are evidenced in his many (and glowing) testimonials. He's a nice guy. He cares about others. He's fun to be around.
I look forward to our professional and personal relationship with Dave, and wholeheartedly recommend him in all regards.” Jim Berryhill, Chairman and Co-Founder
“Dave is that rare voice of reason in a cacophony of sales "leadership" noise. Dave has become my go-to resource for advice on business strategy, anything sales, and as a sounding board for all ideas. Never shy with brutal honesty he has proven invaluable to my success in a short amount of time.” Severan Johnson, Director of Business Operations
“Strategic Partnering is a key strategy in driving Novozymes innovation and growth in the coming years. The partnering programs and processes you have identified and helped us implement will enable us to become ‘Best In Class’ in collaborating and innovating in the future. We are already seeing improved results with our current partnerships.” Director of Partnering Programs
"Dave Brock is an innovator as he thinks different in his approach to the life/work challenges. His solutions approach is a truly unique as is it based in decades of front line application that makes it REAL and highly valuable. There is no one in this industry that matches his demonstrated capability to help, this coming from my own 52 year history in this industry." Mitch Little, Senior Vice President, WW Client Engagement