tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:02:40 +0000This is Dave Brock's blog offering views, thoughts, opinions and observations on making a difference. This applies to business and personal ways to make a difference.http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)Blogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-8131744231411014673Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:42:00 +00002009-07-31T07:46:52.883-07:00BloggingThank you for visiting Dave Brock's Blog, Making A Difference. This blog has moved and all new posts and comments are now at:Partners In EXCELLLENCE Blog -- Making A Differencehttp://partnersinexcellenceblog.comPlease update your readers, RSS Feeds, and bookmarks. We don't want to lose you so please visit us at our new home.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/gL1RBxfHUlQ/this-blog-has-moved.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-blog-has-moved.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-4735298861288285900Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:41:00 +00002009-07-23T14:41:21.766-07:00BloggingTaking a page from some of my blogging colleagues, I wanted to celebrate and thank all my readers. This is my 200th blog post.Before I go on, part of the celebration is to announce that we're moving. The new location and link for our blog is:Making A Difference.For those of you that want to see it "spelled out," the new location is: http://partnersinexcellenceblog.comPlease update your feeds, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/YxbYYbgBJrE/lets-celebrate-200th-post-also-its.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)1http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/lets-celebrate-200th-post-also-its.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-2129770705123018269Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:46:00 +00002009-07-22T11:40:45.091-07:00Bad Sales PracticeProfessional SalesBuilding RelationshipsYesterday, I got an intriguing tweet. It was from an individual and simply stated, "We inspire sales people. If interested let's connect." I have to admit, the pitch caught my interest. I looked at his twitter profile and saw roughly 95% of his 374 updates had one of 3 variants of the same pitch.It got me to thinking, aren't many of our initial introductions and value propositions to prospects http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/xf6DqrQ0uPU/interesting-strategy-we-inspire-sales.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/interesting-strategy-we-inspire-sales.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-384120450116661983Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +00002009-07-22T04:00:09.818-07:00ListeningBad Sales PracticeProfessional SalesYou know this story, I'm sitting at my desk, the phone rings, I answer, and an enthusiastic voice: "Good morning Dave!, I'm Roger from XXX....." The pitch begins.This guy was selling a Sales 2.0 tool, which I actually had some interest in. I barely had the words, "tell me what you do" out of my mouth when the script started."Excuse me, may I ask a question," I tried to inject, but the pitch went http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/wMXZhYsjfyk/salespeople-please-stop-your-pitch-long.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/salespeople-please-stop-your-pitch-long.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-8953644609171502540Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:04:00 +00002009-07-21T07:34:46.794-07:00ProductivityProfessional SalesResultsI love being in sales, I love talking to great sales professional. I think a large part of it is that success in sales requires you to really think.Many people make a mistake when they think about sales. Some think it is all about the product--success comes from good product knowledge and a great pitch. Good product knowledge is important, but that's not what sales is about. And the pitch really http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/Un7CipPn0l0/sales-thinking-persons-profession.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/sales-thinking-persons-profession.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-5269949346721780829Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +00002009-07-21T04:00:06.467-07:00LeadershipProfessional SalesCoachingResultsIt's approaching that time of year. I'm getting calls from clients: "Dave, we will be starting our planning process in September. We will have to commit to 2010's numbers and budget, we will have to develop a commission plan that motivates our sales people to hit the goals..... We're going to need your help." These conversations got me to thinking about a mistake I think many organizations http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/lN0iaD-VHl0/sales-performance-management-two-key.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/sales-performance-management-two-key.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-6428733090609301891Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:06:00 +00002009-07-20T15:18:36.854-07:00Professional SalesBuilding RelationshipsValue Proposition I'm frustrated and a little impatient. As a profession, we seem to be doing the same thing over and over, making little progress. Sometimes, I feel like I'm Bill Murray waking up every morning in "Ground Hog Day."All sorts of sales consultants, guru's, and other self proclaimed experts (probably including me, if I'm honest) make a lot about being consultative, solutions and customer focused, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/-J6zqTW_o2A/future-of-selling-consultative.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)2http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/future-of-selling-consultative.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-7235789161080412940Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:02:00 +00002009-07-15T07:40:52.412-07:00Social NetworkingBad Sales PracticeBloggingCommunicatingMany of you know I'm very enthusiastic about Twitter. I believe it has potential to be a very powerful tool for business professionals. Right now, we are just scratching the surface of potential applications.I'm seeing people use it in very clever ways for competitive and market insight. I read stories of amazing customer service (though one wonders why people had to resort to Twitter to get http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/f0ZX0uJhmmM/stupid-twitter-and-social-media-tricks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/stupid-twitter-and-social-media-tricks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-4314961297488011158Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:48:00 +00002009-07-14T08:32:39.226-07:00LeadershipProfessional SalesA good friend (and top sales executive) and I were having an interesting conversation this morning. One of his regional VP's was having great difficulty with one of the organization's top sales people. We were talking about what to do about the sales person. The issue was that the sales person was refusing to have anything to do with the company's CRM system. Despite constant reminders (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/FRyR-1tnXFY/would-you-fire-your-top-sales-person_14.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)7http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/would-you-fire-your-top-sales-person_14.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-1957653443608518636Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:32:00 +00002009-07-13T15:10:21.524-07:00Professional SalesValue PropositionOver the past week, I have had several conversations and a common theme kept coming up: "How do we stay relevant to our customers?" Since the crash of the economy, the projects we were working on, the things we were doing are no longer important to many of our customers. Our customers no longer want to talk to us.I have to admit I've struggled a little with this notion -- how did we become http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/X2-ItofjY-w/are-you-still-relevant-to-your.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-you-still-relevant-to-your.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-4255961860559628195Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:21:00 +00002009-07-09T08:58:29.825-07:00Professional SalesBuilding RelationshipsValue PropositionWe know that a clear differentiated value proposition is critical to sales success. Over the past month, I have been writing about various aspects of developing communicating and delivering differentiated value to your customers. I'll stay on the same theme, but take a slightly different direction.How many sales professionals understand the core value propositions of their customers? Do we know http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/T4AA88oDO9M/do-you-know-your-customers-value.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/do-you-know-your-customers-value.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-3751254023477195323Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:31:00 +00002009-07-08T09:18:52.772-07:00Professional SalesBuilding RelationshipsValue PropositionA few days ago, a reader contacted me with a great question: "Dave, you always talk about creating value in every meeting with the customer. What do you mean? Is it realistic? How do I get what I need accomplished?" Thanks, for the question and keeping me from being glib.Let me back up a minute. One of the most common issues that comes up when I speak with sales people is, "we can't get meetings http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/q6Da4roZfxs/create-value-in-every-meeting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/create-value-in-every-meeting.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-1673199130554386461Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:58:00 +00002009-07-06T14:14:26.329-07:00ListeningProfessional SalesValue PropositionLast week, I published a post: First, Let Your Customer Finish Their Sentence, Then Ask Three Questions. In it, I addressed an issue that very experienced sales professionals often have---that is, being so "prepared" to provide solutions that they never give their customers a chance to tell their story.Not only is interrupting offensive to customers, but it presents the opportunity to miss a lot http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/Bs8B5Y1tOPk/three-questions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/three-questions.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-1295219204864418181Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:37:00 +00002009-07-06T07:50:13.040-07:00Social NetworkingProfessional SalesWebinar: Driving Demand in a Demanding MarketJuly 15 1:00 PM PST / 4 PM ESTAs a sales executive, you know how difficult it is to increase revenue while decreasing costs in today's selling environment. You’re under pressure to produce sales. Missed deals are costing you money. You need new ways to get smarter and more productive quickly – not more of the same. But which new sales strategies will http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/iC6Hz9fnwUU/are-you-playing-to-win-sales.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-you-playing-to-win-sales.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-7272824589441613064Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:54:00 +00002009-06-26T06:02:46.332-07:00Professional SalesBuilding RelationshipsCommunicatingYesterday, I had a discussion with "Mark." Mark is one of the best sales/business development professionals I have ever met. In the market segments in which he sells, he is truly an expert. He's spent many years in understanding the industry, the players, the key issues facing everyone in the value delivery chain. Customers seek and respect Mark's opinion. He's helped customers achieve great http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/gKDRqnQCl-8/first-let-your-customer-finish-their.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)2http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-let-your-customer-finish-their.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-8494980935649761807Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:33:00 +00002009-06-23T17:41:59.953-07:00Professional SalesBuilding RelationshipsValue PropositionI just finished a conversation with a client. He is the EVP of Sales for a high performing sales organization. We were talking about the challenge of setting his company's offerings apart from the competition---continuing to differentiate their solutions.For a few moments, we spoke about the "good old days." We reflected on how things had changed, what used to set them apart is now a common http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/SIYiZH0luYw/table-stakes-are-changing-how-do-we-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/table-stakes-are-changing-how-do-we-up.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-695734676651293328Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:51:00 +00002009-06-22T10:58:58.094-07:00Building BusinessProfessional SalesResultsWebinar: Driving Demand in a Demanding Market July 15 11 AM PST / 2 PM ESTAs a sales executive, you know how difficult it is to increase revenue while decreasing costs in today's selling environment. You’re under pressure to produce sales. Missed deals are costing you money. You need new ways to get smarter and more productive quickly – not more of the same. But which new sales strategies will http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/fsl-oQxZkOU/sales-is-changing-are-you-maximizing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/sales-is-changing-are-you-maximizing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-1321334206851188780Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:32:00 +00002009-06-17T10:55:41.164-07:00Professional SalesPartneringValue PropositionTo many sales and business executives, developing channels, reseller relationships, or other similar partnerships is driven by finding cost effective means to covering markets or geographies. While this is compelling, I'd like to suggest a more effective strategy for developing and implementing your channel and partner strategies---if well executed, it will also be a cost effective way of http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/5xk51shEtBE/delivering-value-through-channel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/delivering-value-through-channel.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-4842335873745433994Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:17:00 +00002009-06-12T06:57:24.215-07:00Professional SalesCustomer SatisfactionValue PropositionThis is the quandary of the traditional sales person---they sell, but we all know people don't like to be sold! What we forget about this concept is that while people don't like to be sold, they really do like buying! I'll say it again--people like to buy. People need to buy to achieve their goals. A problem is that people don't necessarily know how to buy! Solving this problem for customers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/p_u8QTJfh8Y/people-dont-like-to-be-sold-but-they-do.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)3http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/people-dont-like-to-be-sold-but-they-do.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-8390655533842437032Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:23:00 +00002009-06-11T06:52:59.420-07:00ListeningProfessional SalesBuilding RelationshipsCustomer SatisfactionValue PropositionI've been writing about creating differentiated value for your customers. Let me focus on a couple of elements of value---in this you will discover why "generic" value propositions miss the mark.Value has many dimensions. As business and sales professionals, we tend to focus on the business elements of value--how much we can reduce costs, how much we can improve revenues, how much we can improve http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/LqLwDAH9Ads/creating-value-business-and-personal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/creating-value-business-and-personal.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-3198997454653092476Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:46:00 +00002009-06-09T16:22:17.629-07:00Professional SalesBuilding RelationshipsResultsValue PropositionA compelling and differentiated value proposition is critical in selling—we all know this, yet this remains one of the biggest challenges facing sales professionals.This post examines 5 critical elements about developing and communicating differentiated value propositions.1. Numbers count, quantifying your value is critical. We know the structure of value proposition, it states a problem area or http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/RgPelFooJxk/setting-yourself-apart-developing-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/setting-yourself-apart-developing-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-8276500592050545541Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:48:00 +00002009-06-08T15:58:08.629-07:00ProductivityProfessional SalesBuilding RelationshipsExecutionWebinar: Driving Demand in a Demanding MarketJuly 15 11 AM PST / 2 PM ESTAs a sales executive, you know how difficult it is to increase revenue while decreasing costs in today's selling environment. You’re under pressure to produce sales. Missed deals are costing you money. You need new ways to get smarter and more productive quickly – not more of the same. But which new sales strategies will http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/YUnbJABhGhQ/sales-game-has-changed-are-you-playing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/sales-game-has-changed-are-you-playing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-7863855116805001044Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:09:00 +00002009-06-05T09:26:46.564-07:00LeadershipProfessional SalesCoachingAccountabilityResultsI've been quietly following my friend Dave Stein's posts, tweets, and rants about the state of sales training this week. I guess the ASTD conference set him off, but I've been quietly cheering him along.Sales training seems to be one of those things people constantly complain about --- management, sales people, training people --- yet somehow we are content in not doing anything about it. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/44SPvRyWCA8/fixing-sales-training-chicken-or-egg.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)3http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/fixing-sales-training-chicken-or-egg.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-88499688650341889Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:39:00 +00002009-06-04T11:51:16.345-07:00Building BusinessStrategyProfessional SalesPartneringResultsI have written a lot about Strategic Partnerships and Alliances as part of your sales strategies. Over the past tow weeks we have been conducting a survey on the importance of partnering to sales strategies. We gotten good participation and, on a preliminary basis, some very intriguing results. Some of the results are actually a bit of a surprise to me---I think people will be quite intrigued http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/w7fmO1-vKpk/how-important-are-partnerships-to-your.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-important-are-partnerships-to-your.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10267918.post-6376645448492114062Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:33:00 +00002009-06-03T18:44:40.399-07:00HumorMany of you who follow me or know me, know that I am an avid road bicyclist. Today, I saw this from Jessica Hagy's ThisIndexed blog and couldn't stop laughing. It is so true---I've spent a lot of time picking bugs from my teeth, learning when you do a fast down and are surrounded by fields, keep your mouth closed.Her title was so appropriate: Mmmmmm---Protein!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MakingADifference-ThoughtsObservationsAndOpinions/~3/l2GhyOfHhNE/oh-so-true-amusing-diversion.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Dave Brock's Blog)0http://partnersinexcellence.blogspot.com/2009/06/oh-so-true-amusing-diversion.html