Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

By now, I figure I've taken over 2,400 trips to Vermont over the years traveling back and forth from either Boston or NH.  At three hours, the trip takes about the same amount of time from either starting point, and the distance evens out between 150 and 180 miles.

The problem, as the Boys on the Bench down at the Winhall General Store frequently tell me is that "you can't get there from here" whenever I mention that I'm leaving the mountains to drive to the NH beach...and they're right.  There's no easy way to go east and west between Vermont and New Hampshire, and every trip presents a variety of decisions that ultimately end up just frustrating me.

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales effectiveness, sales tools, improved sales management, sales management training, closing sales, how to close sales, best sales practices;

I was at a board meeting a few weeks ago as a new director for a well established public company. As I sat there at my first meeting thinking about boards, board roles, board interactions and a myriad of other director related stuff, I reflected on what I've learned over the years about being a director.

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales listening

Most mornings when I'm getting ready for the day at the gym after working out, I find myself shaving in the sink area near Dr. Steve, a world-renowned surgeon. Over the years, I've gotten to know him very well, and recently he's been a wonderful sounding board for me as I maneuvered my way through the maze of hospital procedures, protocols and processes.

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

A friend of mine just became the head of a large bank, which is one of our larger customers.  A solid and very comfortable guy that your first reaction to is... "I'd just like to sit around talking to to him".  Ex-football player from Dartmouth who now maxes out on a couple of Tough Mudders every year.  Great family man, just a nice guy, who is very focused on what he and his managers need to do in terms of performance and accountability. 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management training, sales training, sales plans, sales management boot camp, strategic planning

As we move through March and the end of the first quarter, I always regard this time of year as a critical experiment of the new ideas, new strategies, new tactics, new activities and new people that you and the team planned for way back in October and November.  I like to think that both company-wide business plans and departmental-specific sales plans always work because, whether or not they result in the actual forecasted numbers, the planning framework that has been created is actually more important than the results since it provides a consistent process and structure that you can refine and refine again during the balance of the year.  By keeping to this process consistently, I guarantee that you will ultimately get to your goals and objectives.

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling, Sales quota, sales training, sales management boot camp, strategic planning

Here we are at the beginning of the last month of the quarter, and as managers and sales professionals, we're consistently reviewing ....

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, sales and marketing best practices, sales, sales management, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales management training, sales management boot camp

 

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales plans, sales boot camp, sales producitivity, sales management boot camps

What's Important?

Two weeks ago, I underwent bypass surgery at MGH. "Big Success" is all I wanted to hear, and those were the exact two words scribbled boldly across my discharge papers.  What's ahead are a few weeks of recovery and exercise, and then, just as I have heard from hundreds of blog readers and Facebook friends, "better than before".  That phrase by itself raises a lot more questions, and one of the most important of those to be answered is that of "What's Important?".

See, I thought that I was already "better than before", and have always exercised every day, and snowboarded and surfed on the weekends.  Couple those activities with relatively good diets, and I should be the postercild for "Healthy (older) Boy" of the year. 2014 didn't seem to end that way, but on the very positive side of all of this, 2014 is now way back in the rear view mirror.  

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales and marketing best practices, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales optomization, sales management boot camp, sales culture

Happy 2015!  

And, with the coming of this new calendar year...of life, of Sales, of relationships, of exploring, and, most importantly, of learning, also comes the requirement to take a look around and assess where you personally are in your sales and marketing career.  Part of this personal responsibility comes merely as a result of turning the page in the calendar and being able to broadly look out over the landscape of the next 12 months that are about to unfold...whether you're ready or not.   Make a few resolutions if you must, but, most importantly, place a firm stake in the ground now, and take control of where you want be and what you want to have accomplished at this exact time in January, 2016.  

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management, sales effectiveness, sales planning, sales tools, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales effictiveness

The semester is just about over.  11 weeks of classes and then two weeks of final presentations came to a close Wednesday.  

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management, sales effectiveness, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, sales plans, sales listening, sales management boot camps