Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

As anyone who reads these weekly meanderings from the NH beach where I live, the Boston office where I work, the Tufts classroom where I learn or the general store in the town of Winhall, VT (pop. 769), seven days a week, I'm 95% focused on the mechanics, the math, the processes, the embedded exciting technologies, and...of course...the people of the sciences of Sales and Marketing!   

You can make your own count this wicked cold morning as to whether the actual selling days left are either 7 or 9, but the reality is that the end of this year's quota is just about here, and the remaining tactics we have left are all about closing. 

There are actually 34 different tactics one can use to close a B2B order, but at this time of year, I find the most effective are:

A very simple tactic is to simply write a series of personalized emails tomorrow morning to your customers, your referral partners and to your prospects.  This does not need to be anything lengthy, but it does need to be human, so please stay away from the bland "Happy Holidays" and nothing else. 

I spend 30% of my 80-hour work weeks in Vermont, which I find is the perfect place for figuring out large projects, writing business plans and creating complex sales playbooks.  I enjoy the view out the office window and the ability to step outside and walk in my woodlot for 30 minutes when I get stuck. It's almost perfect...except for the heat problem.

The headlines are clear: Gen Z is entering one of the toughest job markets in decades.

For graduating seniors, the path from campus to career looks very different than it did even two years ago.

Here are the facts, and why your help matters both for students and for your own business!

Pretty much, the 3 days I need to be in Boston every week, I'm in the car at the NH beach at 4:00 AM for the 59-minute drive at an average 61 mph (with a powerful radar detector) to Boston. With the wicked Boston traffic, if I were to leave at 5:30, it would take 2 hours mostly at 15 mph on 93. 

I start my day in the gym at 5:30 on the treadmill reading the WSJ, and yesterday, I read this Interesting article about the shortage of AI expertise and that workers in Silicon Valley are pushing themselves to extremes.  Since counting time and figuring out the math of Sales is one of my passions, I looked back at the data that we've collected over the last 10 years on the number of hours that the top performing salespeople work.   

At Derby Management, the fall is always a very busy time working with management teams on overall strategy while taking a deep dive into the sales and marketing processes, the tools and the people upgrades that will need to be made in order to accomplish 2026 forecasts.

I left the NH beach last night to drive to the Vermont office for a day filled with sales calls starting in 10 minutes at 9.

Clearly the fall season is fully in charge here on the busiest leaf-peeping week of the year... except that the trees are already mostly bare due to a wicked dry summa'.  

We're now 5 weeks into our semester and have officially shifted from high-end strategy into developing executable tactics and campaigns. The semester ends in early December with presentations of detailed plans to the CEOs of our host companies who determine 40% of the final grade. Definitely, everyone the course is hustling to an end point just the same as if they had a 4th quarter quota to reach...since they actually do. 

I spend a lot of time driving fast from the NH beach to work in Boston, frequent trips to Tufts and end-of-the-week...like this afternoon...3-hour expeditions to VT.  As a result, I frequently trade in cars just before the time of the dreaded "you need new tires and brakes" checkup.  

Following Friday's Job Report and this morning's WSJ article on job creation, the bottom line seems to be "slowing, not stalled".  Given that... and the ups and downs of tariffs...the word we hear everywhere in our fall planning sessions for 2026 is "uncertainty"!

What is certain is that there's a surplus of incredible younger talent looking for jobs from recent GenZ grads to heavily experienced Millennials especially in sales and marketing.  What this means for those of you who are looking to hire, now is the time push ahead...but do it slowly. 

We clearly understand the uncertainty issue, but considering the 12-18+ months it takes to fully ramp up any salesperson, my strong recommendation is to start the process now...but be slow and absolutely thorough in your process:

• Tighten up the job description, and most importantly, create a very detailed internal checklist.
• Detail the exact skills and experience you need and then test for those skills in presentations.
• Define the personal characteristics that match your, and use PI or similar tools for assessments.
• Be exacting in discussing your 2026 KPIs during your interviews.  

There's a phrase we use in our hiring process for salespeople: "Be Slow to Hire & Quick to Fire".  

What we've seen too many times is that there's a sales opening because a salesperson or a manager unexpectedly quit creating a rush to hire and fill that opening. Job descriptions are quickly updated, KPI objectives are generalized, postings are made on LinkedIn and other platforms, and a flurry of "let us know if you know anyone" calls are made to personal connections. Nothing is wrong with these tactics, but they're just not thorough enough.  The cost of a bad sales hire is not just the two years of lost revenue; it's the hit on reputation both internally and externally.

Where it goes wrong...

• Detailed time is not taken and 100% agreed to by the hiring team regarding the four bullets above.
• There are artificial pressures that lead to "good-enough" hiring.   
• There is not enough emphasis placed on interpreting and assessing the personal characteristics.  We often use the analogies of dating and getting married since that's exactly what's happening in the senior management positions of sales.   

If you want to talk through a couple of ideas or get access to my students or recent alums, just connect with me at any time.  A good use of my time commuting in and out of Boston. 

Have a great day selling today!

It's time to begin your business & Sales planning for what lies ahead in 2026.

Think about taking a day out this September and October to tune up your business and sales plans.  Here's our free how-to ebooks for a few ideas: 
"Writing the Winning Sales Plan"
"Writing the Winning Business Plan"
"Writing the Winning Marketing Plan"
"The Marketing of Me"

We outline ideas on structure, models, process funnels, productivity tools and how to recruit, hire and onboard the best people.  A few hands-on guides for real managers written by real managers with their fingers in the dirt.  

Connect with me any time at jack@derbymanagement.com and let's discuss your own 2026 planning!