Are You Engaging?...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Oct 22, 2013

In St. John, New Brunswick, Canada this morning where I was a keynote speaker yesterday along with David Meerman Scott for the two day Engage Conference sponsored by the economic development and export trade offices of the Province and St. John.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales optomization, Sales quota, sales management boot camp, sales producitivity

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...

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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. 

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

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.

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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

What Counts...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Dec 19, 2012

With everything going on around us…the pressures of the end of the year sales, the craziness of December in general, the senseless tragedy in Connecticut, and the continued stupidity of the party-entrenched Washington politicians carrying on ivory tower debates over what will determine the economic stability of our country for years to come, it’s hard sometimes to maintain focus on the things that really count.

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Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales plans

Seekers & Finders...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Dec 04, 2012

With now just 16 selling days (and that's stretching the reality of real sales time) until the end of the year, the pressure’s on, everyone is heads down, and totally focused on that one simple thing-QUOTA-before the end of the year.  Statistics tell me that in a B2B world, only 67% of salespeople make their quota every year, which I always find curious…and shocking…since in my companies, on average, that number is up in the mid 80’s.  With only 67% as the average, that means that there must be a lot of salespeople really struggling down in the 30 and 40 percentiles.  No wonder the turnover rate is so high among salespeople taken as a total. 

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Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, improved sales management, sales management training, Sales quota, sales jobs, jobs, finding sales jobs, how to close sales

Building the Best Sports Teams...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Nov 28, 2012

With a long weekend of maxed-out football from Thanksgiving Day high school to the Pats, I realize that I'm constantly comparing professional sports teams to professional sales organizations on the basis of....

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

Trains...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Mon, Nov 12, 2012

On my way to NYC on the Acela this morning.  Door to door, three hours, and I’m then plunked into the heart of Manhattan after working in an uninterrupted environment, having a not-so-bad breakfast and doing some quiet soul searching.  A perfect trip.

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Tags: sales management effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales management training, Sales quota, sales training, sales listening

Can't Catch Fish with a Rubber Hook...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Fri, Oct 12, 2012

Most days, I commute back and forth from the NH beach on the left to our sales office in Boston.  For most of the year, the commute is not an issue since I leave early and can usually squeeze in a quick walk on the sand at dusk.  For the rest of the year, I come and go in the dark, but since that particular seasonal shift also marks the snowboarding season, I know I'm headed to the mountains at the end of the week anyway, which takes the edge off the commute. 

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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, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales enablment, sales jobs

I am Vermont Strong...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Oct 03, 2012

With the big Vermont “Cut Down Day” behind me last weekend and a refrigerator list of only 14 items to complete before the end of the month and the first of the November snows, the daunting tasks of getting ready for another Vermont winta’ seem to be relatively contained.   But then, this is Vermont, and just like my perfectly-planned schedules at the beginning of every month always look, well… “perfect”, shortly into the fall season or into every business quarter, there’s always reshuffles and “squeeze-me-ins”, and the only thing that I can really control is how many hours I can work.

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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, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales jobs