Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

As a 7th generation Vermonter, other than my years living overseas in the Peace Corps, I've always found my way back to the Green Mountain State for the celebration of Thanksgiving. Probably not a DNA thing, since none of my relatives live here anymore, but mostly, it's a Thanksgiving tradition thing and a welcoming back of friends on the slopes of Stratton, where I've been coming every Thanksgiving ever since it opened. 

This morning's trip from the NH beach to the bustling town of Bondville, (pop. 647), known for being the oldest summer fair in Vermont, took just three hours (ayah...can't get theah from heah) which always makes me think about how technology advances have changed our Thanksgivings. 

Last week was Not a time for sleep!

In addition to my two "day jobs" of running our firm in Boston and teaching at Tufts, I spent hours and hours last week preparing for and then actually voting in my quirky little NH seacoast town.

More than anything else, standing out in the 35 degree Tuesday morning cold at 8:00 AM while waiting in line and sharing free coffee and hand made pastries from the local PTA, once again, I realized that this election process is a true testament to both "The American Way",...and also why New Hampshire is lovingly labeled "The Live Free or Die State". 

All of this may not be perfect, but, it sure works more than the alternatives.  Both the running of the country and the running of our businesses are fueled by growth, and it's time to put the election process behind us and get back to growing our companies.  

Rich Horwath, CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, found in his recent research that...

Every industry faces competition and a disruption in the market.  The wikipedia definition of disruptive innovation is, “an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leaders and alliances.”  

About to head out to Tufts this crisp fall morning, and I'm already leaping ahead thinking about the spring, 2017 semester, and of course about Sales.

When I put this four to six month look ahead in timing into perspective, it's exactly the same process that we're right now experiencing with our customers in their 2017-2019 strategy planning and in their detailed sales and marketing tactical planning for next year.

It's that time of year again...

In the rhythm of the seasons, we're right now at the peak of leaf-peeping time here in New England.  This afternoon, I'm headed to my little (population 697) town of Bondville in Vermont along with hundreds of buses from Iowa, Indiana and everywhere else just to get a glimpse of fall color.  

Long ago, I learned from 'The Boys on the Bench' down at the Winhall General Store that the month of October is known as "the money month" by the locals around all of the resort towns in Vermont.

A good example of the quirkiness of Vermonters (me being a 7th generation Vermonter and a perfect example of quirky) is the fact that the Winhall General store is directly across the street from the Bondville Post office.  Vermont calls my town "Winhall", while the federal government calls it "Bondville".  Only in Vermont!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. Despite how important it is to nearly every business, most people don't know what it is or how it is relevant to their company. If you fall into this category, fear not! We have created an easy-to-read SEO overview to explain the basics, so read on to learn about why you need to improve your website's SEO now!

As a sales pro, what am I really selling?

Is it my shiny new bag of beads?  Maybe, assuming it's really, really shiny...at least for a while

Every company is looking for ways to increase revenue and decrease costs.  Unfortunately a lot of times marketing is looked at more as a line item or the executive team doesn't know what questions to ask in order to ensure they are getting the right ROI from their marketing team to increase revenue.