Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

Just completed Week 9 of the 13-week semester this past Wednesday

Tags: Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, how to write a business plan, HubSpot Tips, business planning meetings, how to write a sales plan, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, 2025 Business Planning, 2025MarketingPlanning, 2025SalesPlanning

I don't know about you and your college experience, but my undergraduate years at BC were largely focused on balancing classes, taking copious notes, prepping for exams, working part time jobs and commuting back and forth-rain or snow-on my $250 motor scooter.  I was younger than most, wicked naive about what to expect and how to act, and very rarely got the opportunity to critically think.  When I had the opportunity 22 years ago to teach at MIT, which I still do every fall, and I'm now in my 20th year at Tufts teaching Marketing and Sales, I structured everything around activating critical thinking among my students by working in teams around complex projects. In fact, that's exactly what we've been doing in our consulting practice so transferring that discipline of project-based critical thinking to the classroom has been very direct.  

Tags: Sales Management Best Practices, how to write a business plan, business planning meetings, Teaching at Tufts University, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, 2025 Business Planning

The Dog Days of Summa are here in full force, and what are we already hearing since last week's turn of the calendar page? 

Tags: Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, best sales practices;, business planning meetings, entrepreneurshipfortherestofus, Teaching at Tufts University, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, 2023 Business Planning, 2023 Sales Planning, 2023 Marketing Plans

If it wasn't for bad luck, you know, I wouldn't have no luck at all

There's a superb classic blues song sung by R&B greats, Ray Charles, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn and my personal favorite Joe Bonamassa, about luck...or in this case...bad luck. 

On Friday the 13th, I thought that it was appropriate to kick off today as we enter the season of 2023 sales and business planning meetings with a couple of thoughts about luck.

Bottom line: Never plan on luck, optimism or even best efforts!  What will happen, will happen only as a result of you and your team's personal involvement and rigid commitment to a planning process this year.

Tags: business plans, business planning meetings, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, 2023 Business Planning

 

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, best sales practices;, business planning meetings, 2022 business planning, 2022 sales planning, 2022businessplansuccess, entrepreneurshipfortherestofus, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts

27 degrees out by the studio barn this morning, getting ready for the big blow comin' on Monday.  About time, in a season of almost zero snow.  Just enough to test out the new Big Boy blower.

I'm sure when I go to the Winhall General Store at 8 for coffee and a breakfast sandwich, everyone will be talking, hoping and planning for the first of the big storms. 

Tags: business plans, strategic planning, business planning meetings, writing business plans, 2022businessplansuccess

About 20 years ago, I found myself having breakfast meeting after breakfast meeting with both entrepreneurs and managers of established business walking through my initial review of their business plans especially at the beginning of the year.  For me, it was lead gen for follow-on consulting work, but actually expensive lead gen since it took a ton of time and way too many fattening $30 Marriott buffets.  There had to be a better way, so I began the first edition of a what was then a 30-page free ebook titled... Writing the Winning Business Plan"

Tags: business coaching, strategic planning, writing a business plan, business planning meetings, writing business plans

January is the most critical time of the year for the entire management team to get their fingers deep into the crankcase oil of the entire engine of the business in order to achieve...

Tags: sales management effectiveness, sales enablement, business coaching, how to close sales, business planning meetings, how to write a sales plan, writing business plans, forgetsalesstrategyfocusontactics

It's that time of year again...

Tags: sales planning meeting, business planning meetings, Making Tough Choices, sales management plans, sales management productivity, sales effectivness

It's the beginning of March, and we all know what March is good for !

Tags: sales management boot camp, how to write a business plan, writing a business plan, business planning meetings, Making Tough Choices, jack derby professor at Tufts, sales effectivness, sales motivation, Tufts Entrepreneurship Center