Crunch Week, Cleanup Weekends & Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Sep 28, 2011

Each of the three CEOs I met with on Monday used the same term, “crunch time” to describe the end of the quarter this Friday.   A software company, a financial services firm and a retail product manufacturer-the industry didn’t make any difference; it was the same phrase, “crunch time”.  Every month, every quarter, in almost every industry we work in, it always comes down to this last week.  It is what it is, and it’s what we deal with as managers every year, which, of course, doesn’t make it right or wrong, it just brings too many decisions down to too little time leaving no room for errors.  The bottom line of which, in any crunch situation, is that unfortunately something somewhere gets squeezed out and falls through the cracks.  I guess I could paint an analogy to the Red Sox here, but that crunch time story is just too depressing and painful.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training

Snowblowers & Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Sep 21, 2011

Last year was my first winter living on the New Hampshire beach.  Commuting to Boston for work and to Vermont on the weekends to snowboard proved not to be such a big deal, and I had this stupid belief that living on the ocean would not produce as much snow.  My brain kept tossing around phrases like "Gulf Stream"  which I then very nicely translated into "less snow". In reality, the beach yielded just as much snow as the 120 inches we received in Vermont.  The key difference (I learned the hard way) was that Vermont possesses one very important component that's missing in the tight confines of a NH beach, and that's plenty of space to plow and dump the stuff.  I also quickly learned that even in The Live Free or Die State, there are zoning laws about when, where and at what volume one can actually move snow.  In Vermont, snow is snow, and the only law is just dump it anywhere...and quickly...because there's more coming tomorrow.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, small business management, October, strategic planning

Getting it Done...in Vermont & in Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Sat, Sep 17, 2011

With anxiety and the fear of the unknown, I headed to Vermont last Friday night for the first time since the floods to see for myself what had happened to our house.  Since friends had already walked the property and checked things out, I knew that we were one of the lucky ones and had no damage.  With our road now fully reconstructed, it was now time to venture into the bustling metropolis of Bondville, population 647, at the base of Stratton Mountain. After confirming that the house was okay, I drove to the general store in stunned silence shocked by the surrounding damage that our tiny river had caused ripping out bridges and tossing 100 pound rocks by the hundreds into our field which, at the height of the storm, had been under five feet of water.   

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, management

Process on the Beach, Process in Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Fri, Sep 09, 2011

With the passing of Labor Day, I found myself giving a sad “see ya next summer” to my friend, Jack McAvoy, the head lifeguard at our beach.  Older, serious, dedicated and always razor sharp, good weather and bad, Jack, on any weekend, is not only out there as the protector of the beach, but he’s often the diplomat and mediator between feuding siblings and sometimes forgetful adults.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, sales training

Perseverance in Vermont, Perseverance in Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Sat, Sep 03, 2011

“It’s been dirty, and it will be a little tough, but we’ll be fine.”

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training