Good Ol' Basics...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jul 24, 2013

John Landry and I had the opportunity to present the week before last to the 128 Innovation Capital Group at the IBM Innovation Center on the subject of angel investing.  Great group of entrepreneurs and Annette Reynolds, the Executive Director, runs a tight ship.  Check out her next Pitch Party at the Piranha Pond, which is coming up on the 30th at 6:00PM at the Tech Sandbox, in  Southborough  With the significant market shifts in angel investing in general and specifically regarding the very positive changes at Common Angels, where John and I are partners, it was a great time to wave the flag and talk about something we're both passionate about.

Read More

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales, sales management, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, sales management boot camps

Lifeguards, Marketing Interns...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jul 10, 2013

Jack McAvoy, Lifeguard & Rock-Solid Marketing Guy!

A senior marketing executive at Parametric Technology, Jack and I met a few years ago out of our common love of caring for the beach.  Jack's been the senior lifeguard in Wallis Sands for a long time and is as passionate about taking care of this beach (Rated in the Top 5 cleanest beaches in the U.S. ) and its visitors as he is about the practice of marketing in the rapidly changing ecosystem of 2013. 

Read More

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, selling skills, sales boot camp, sales listening, best sales practices;

Blogger Ben Franklin...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Jul 02, 2013


My favorite blogger, especially at this time of year as we prepare to celebrate the 4th, is Benjamin Franklin.

An amazing patriot, which is why I always tie Franklin to the 4th.  An inventor, an entrepreneur, the creator of Poor Richard's Almanac (the leading blog of his day), an extraordinary statesman, a lover of good food and wine, and provider of wonderfully simple quotes such as...

Read More

Tags: sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales boot camp

Hope is not a strategy...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Mon, Jun 10, 2013

Art Brault and I have worked together in a couple of companies over the years, and now he's a Regional VP of Sales at Brainshark, a leading Sales Enablement company.  Right now, Art's working hard, thinking through deals and bringing all of his considerable experience to bear pushing to make sure that his team makes quota for the quarter. 

Read More

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling skills, Sales quota, sales plans, sales boot camp

Getting the Very Best Jobs...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jun 05, 2013

I open each semester at Tufts by asking my students what my job is.  After a couple of awkward minutes including... "to teach us about marketing", to which I respond, "That might be a problem because I don't know that much about marketing", my real answer is..."to make sure that you get the highest paying jobs that you're going to find to be the most rewarding".   And, at the end of the day, that's really the most important result from any university. 

Read More

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling, sales management training, selling skills, marketing effectiveness, sales training, sales jobs, finding sales jobs, sales boot camps, strategic planning, Tufts university, Tufts ELS

The Winhall General Store, my friend, Mike...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, May 09, 2013

Late Friday afternoon, I managed to squeeze into the Winhall General Store minutes before closing time and found myself waiting in line beside my friend, Mike, to order takeout.

Read More

Tags: sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales listening, sales jobs, sales boot camps

The Boston Police...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, May 02, 2013

When I first began working with the senior command of the Boston Police Department about five years ago, I needed to change everything that I knew about doing strategic planning with companies.  Suddenly, I was working with a heavily experienced senior management team where there were no revenue streams to increase.  No sales channels to modify or expand.  No pricing strategies to think about either outside or inside any boxes.  No corporate ROI metrics on gross assets or debt.  Just the deliberate strategies and highly practiced tactics of good old community policing and being measured by the reduction rate of violent crime.

Read More

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales planning, sales management training, sales training, business tools, business planning, sales boot camps

Snow Metrics...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Mar 28, 2013

Impossible now to look out my home office windows in Vermont.  Snow drifts cover the window, and even if I were crazy enough to try to shovel them away, the 50 feet between the windows and the driveway is one giant ice cube of snow packed 3 feet deep.  Spring?  Maybe in August.  My great-grandfather Horace, who lived up the road a piece in the town of Poultney during the late 1800's , wrote often about living in Vermont with its 11 months of winta' and one month of damn poor sleddin'.

Read More

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, sales listening, sales jobs, sales boot camps, sales checklists

Town Meetin'...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Mar 20, 2013

 The 2013 Sales Management Boot Camp

We're dialed in for another exciting, engaging, and exhausting Sales Management Boot Camp from late Sunday afternoon, October 6th through Tuesday afternoon, October 8th at the MIT Endicott House.
-Six years, 350+ highly satisfied graduates!
-Everyone attends is focused on two simple questions:

Read More

Tags: Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales management training, sales plans, sales jobs, sales boot camps, sales checklists

Vermont Metrics...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Mar 14, 2013

Vermont this past weekend probably had the best back-to-back two days on the hill for this season. 

Superb blue skies, warm temps, perfect snow, smiling faces, barbecue on the deck. Exceptional! There was nothing better than Saturday...except Sunday. 

Read More

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, sales training, sales plans, sales boot camp, sales checklists