Jack Derby, Head Coach

Jack Derby, Head Coach, Derby Management As founder and Head Coach of Derby Management, Jack Derby and his managers provide strategic planning, and sales and marketing optimization services to growth and middle market companies. Prior to forming Derby Management, Jack served as CEO of Mayer Electronics Corporation, President of CB Sports, President of Litton Industries Medical Systems, CEO of Datamedix Corporation and President of Becton Dickinson Medical Systems. For his work in the entrepreneurial community, Jack was named to Mass High Tech’s All Star Team. He also received the distinguished Pro Bono Publico award from the Smaller Business Association of New England, the Meritorious Service Award for the Association for Corporate Growth, and the Vincent Fulmer Distinguished Service Award from the MIT Enterprise Forum. He is a frequent speaker at numerous sales meeting and business organizations including the Association for Corporate Growth and the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, where he was Chairman of both organizations. He is a Professor of the Practice at Tufts University, where he teaches two courses: “Entrepreneurial Marketing” and “The Art & Science of Sales”. In 2015, Jack received the Henry and Madeline Fisher Award given to the best teacher on campus, an award that is voted by the graduating students and the faculty. He is the first faculty member from the Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies Program to be given this recognition. He is also a lecturer at MIT, where for the past nineteen years, he has taught classes in business planning and marketing to undergraduate and graduate students in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Jack is currently an active board member in a number of companies, including the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Accounting Management Solutions, Aviant Hospice, Brainshark Corporation, Chase Corporation, Rome Snowboards, Reiser Inc, and Tufts University’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies Advisory Board. He is also the past Chairman of Common Angels Ventures, one of the most active seed and early stage investment funds, now rebranded by Jack and management to Converge Ventures.
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Recent Posts

Are you Relevant? ...and more sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Feb 04, 2014

Cannot imagine what it would be like to become the CEO of Microsoft, but since my buds, Bill and Steve, once again passed over my application, I was reading up on Satya Nadella on Saturday morning (since this is a winta' without snowboarding), and I was struck my his simple, but provoking quote that...

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Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales plan process, selling skills, sales training, sales management boot camps

The Number 6...and more Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jan 29, 2014

Last Sunday, I was walking out to the barn and noticed that the big red thermometer read 6. Just by it's naked self...6.   Certainly a lot colder locations over the last couple of weeks. -31 in Fargo, -19 in Albany, and yesterday,-8 in Chicago, but here in the woods of Bondville-Winhall (pop. 725), it was just plain old 6 without the pluses or the minuses.  Just so that I would keep my sanity as I shoveled yet another path for the propane delivery guy to get to the tank, I thought about the relevancy of the number 6.  

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Tags: sales coaching, Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales optomization, sales boot camp, sales management boot camp, sales checklists

Planning for more wood...and more sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jan 22, 2014

Guiding the brand new Subaru carefully out of NH and into Boston through yet another snow storm and blasting cold wind this morning. Steel gray skies and and tough sleddin' everywhere, but that's why they invented 4 wheel drive.  

Even though it seems like we're already two or three months into this winta' season, the calendar technically notes that it's just 30 days. All I know is that I'm burning way more wood than usual in the stove in Vermont, and right now it looks like all my careful planning isn't working out that well.  

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, Sales quota, sales boot camp, sales management boot camp

Out of my Control...and more Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Jan 14, 2014

Toward the end of a very hectic December, I was facilitating a series of 2014 sales plan reviews for the senior sales team of a new customer.  It was interesting for me to note that in a few of the presentations, even heavily experienced salesguys commented that although this was their plan for the year, there "are a number of factors that are out of my control".   Always the pain-in-the-neck, provoking guy that I am, I asked about those, and the responses were...

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Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales optomization, sales training, sales management boot camp, sales boot camps

Just Three Things for 2014...plus More Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Jan 07, 2014

Just Three 2014 Things...

If there were just three things that you could improve on and be super successful at during 2014, what would they be?

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Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales boot camp, sales jobs, sales management boot camp, strategic planning, sales checklists

What is it about resolutions...and more Sales?

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Jan 02, 2014

I get that it’s the beginning of the year. 


I also get all too painfully that I should (take your pick)...

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Peace on Earth...and more sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Dec 24, 2013

I thought about sending out Christmas cards that provided profound statements about love, humanity, warmth, family and, of course, the ultimate wish for "Peace on Earth & Good Will to Men & Women".  

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Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management training, sales management boot camp

Ya Gotta Love Vermonters, their Planning...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Dec 17, 2013

-3 today and more snow, on top of the 18" from Sunday, coming right now. Just the right type of weather for roofing the house, right?  

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Tags: sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management boot camp, improving sales productivity, best sales practices;

"My Plan is to plan"...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Dec 11, 2013

 

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales effectiveness, sales management boot camp, sales boot camps

I'm finally holding all the right cards...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Dec 05, 2013


Coming off the Thanksgiving break after one too many slices of pumpkin pie, I'm feeling pretty good about sales specifically and business overall right now.  A couple of solid weeks of selling left in the year.  Everyone at the firm is maxed out with work.  January's outlook appears to be reasonably ok.  Teaching at Tufts and MIT are in exam modes. The stock market is humming, and the economy in general seems to be more positive...even though the fundamentals (little things like debt, GDP growth and jobs) aren't that much better.

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Tags: sales management effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management boot camp, business tools, business planning, business plans, sales boot camps, best sales practices;