Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

Barely at sunrise this morning, I took a walk on the beach before setting off for the office.  I needed to clear my head from yesterday’s tough deal and a big cancellation which arrived in an unexpected email last night at 11. More of a reschedule than a cancellation, but the impact is the same-nothing happening this month.  

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

When I graduated from BC and was facing the gloom and rigors of graduate school, I came up with what I thought was a much better idea, and to the great consternation of my father, joined the Peace Corps, landing six months later in Moshi, Tanzania at the base of Kilimanjaro.  Fluent in Swahili, I taught English and had what became a life changing experience.  During the next couple of years,  I taught, built libraries, inoculated hundreds of people, and as a group, we changed the lives of countless people.  Would heartily recommend the Peace Corps to anyone!

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

Just when I thought that it was ok to pop my head out of my bunker and look out at what I thought was shaping up to be a pretty good Q2, WHAM, good ol’ Uncle Bernanke slammed me down like a Whack-a-Mole this week as those wonderful phrases of "worst financial crisis”, “most severe housing bust”, “facing additional headwinds”, “Japanese disaster” and my personal catchall favorite of “additional global pressures” hit the airways.   The market this week, already reeling from the effects of last week’s very poor job market results, collided into a stone wall just as hard as Wiley Coyote trying to outmaneuver the Road Runner.  Unfortunately, there’s not much that can change either the laws of physics for Mr. Coyote or the effects of macroeconomics when Uncle Ben speaks.

Somehow, my portfolio hopefully will make it through the financial machinations of Obamanomics.  All I know is that for all of us out there selling our products and services this month, we now have just one more barrier thrown in front of us this week as a reason not to buy.   Nothing slows down a big purchase more than the Fear Factor.  

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

With the turn of the digital page today, we’re BANG right into June and facing the end of the quarter.  Hard now to remember those exciting days back in January at the annual sales meeting, when everything was spread out before us and December, 2011 seemed a very long way away. 

Actually, Q2 for me is always the most interesting and advantageous quarter of the year.

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