Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

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

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

Summa!

Tags: Sales Management Best Practices, sales management, sales coach, sales planning, sales producitivity, business tools, business planning, business plans, The Competitive Edge, writing a business plan

Thanks for closing the Q on time and even squeaking in those last few orders on Friday afternoon before the closing bell !  This morning, whatever the number was, it feels good to have the wind at your back and a new page open to a new week, a new month and a new quarter !  Still lots of room between now and the end of December.    

Tags: business planning, business coaching, business plans, strategic planning, strategic

At Derby Management we are big believers in constant education and focused networking to refine your skills, learn new strategies and grow professionally.  We strive to provide our clients superior service through our own knowledge and experience since all of our team has sat in the chairs-just like you-as CEOs, heads of Sales and heads of Marketing of both startups and middle market companies in a wide variety of industries.  

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales training, business tools, business plans

Tufts University $100K New Ventures Competition

The business plan pitches were Wednesday, and the awards were made last night. This year yet another company, Mimir Insights, with several of my marketing Alums won the top prize in High Tech. This is what real entrepreneurship...at the street level...is all about.  Congratulations to all of the entrepreneurs!!!!

Tags: entreprenurial, business plans, Tufts university, marketing plans, entrepreneurship

Thanks very much for the comments and ideas from last week's blog post on "The (first) Five Rules".  As promised, here are the remaining five.  It may well be that you have your own, so let me and our readers know about your ideas by commenting below...

Tags: sales coaching, sales coach, sales tools, sales plans, business planning, business plans, sales planning meetings

Tags: closing sales, business planning, business coaching, business plans, best sales practices;

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”                   -Mike Tyson

If your last image of Iron Mike chewing off the ear of Evander Holyfield was a bit too graphic, then maybe some of the following highly positive quotes might be more representative of the reasons for careful planning...just so that you don't get punched in the face.

Tags: Sales Best Practices, sales and marketing best practices, sales planning, sales plans, business tools, business planning, business coaching, business plans

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.

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