Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

As we think about the way-too-rapidly-approach to Labor Day...

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales culture

 

Tags: Sales Optimization, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, selling, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, sales listening, sales producitivity

Been an interesting summer so far what with lots of hospital visits, more docs than I want to know, surgery and now recuperating through Labor Day.  As my Facebook friends know, I decided to reward making it through the surgery and receiving very good news from pathology by buying a new Corvette Stingray.  Seemed to be fitting in keeping with the whole beach and ocean thing, plus I've always wanted to own a sports car.  Not to worry, the garage still houses the Subaru Outback and the Acura MDX since the Stingray will never see one flake of snow or ever travel on an ice covered road.

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales and marketing best practices, sales effectiveness, sales management training

Sometimes we make this strategic planning stuff much too difficult, too mysterious and too complex to be useful in the real, rough and tumble world of scaling a profitable growth business. 

Tags: sales and marketing best practices, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales management training, business planning, strategic planning, improving sales productivity

To the uninitiated, the managers who never actually sold anything, the presidents who did not climb up the rungs from entry-level sales positions to become the #1 salesperson, and to the operations managers who regard salespeople as a necessary evil, the presumption is that money drives success in salespeople.  

Tags: sales coaching, Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales effectiveness, sales producitivity, sales culture, sales boot camps

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement

Perhaps you're a weekend athlete and chase the little white ball around on Saturdays. Maybe, you're on the other end of the spectrum like my friend, John Sohikian, back on the bike clocking 30 miles runs just two weeks after major surgery. James Geshwiler, one of the two Managing Directors of Common Angels, is out rowing on the Charles most mornings in every possible weather condition, including a little ice now and then.  Me?  I'm somewhere north of the center, in the gym promptly every weekday morning at 5, thinking through the day and typically counting the minutes until breakfast.
 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales and marketing best practices, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales culture

I had the pleasure on Monday of sitting through 12 account reviews at one of our customers. Solid experienced sales people, a brand name Boston-based company, established management-all good.  As one of the guys pointed out during his review of his ytd performance, "Sales cures all ills", and, of course he's correct, but...

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Best Practices, sales effectiveness, sales enablement

This is the final week! Or, more appropriately...this is Finals Week.

Tags: Sales Best Practices, Sales Management Best Practices, sales and marketing best practices, sales, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, best sales practices;

When Hurricane Irene devastated Vermont, we became Vermont Strong!  We didn't wait for FEMA to show up to hand out blankets and food stamps.  That next day, we worked knee deep in the rivers with wheelbarrows and shovels to get Vermont back on the map. Even though 6 bridges had been totally torn away in the 30 miles between Brattleboro and Stratton, the road was open again in two weeks. Two years later, tens of thousands of Vermonters proudly display "We are Vermont Strong" license plates.
 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Best Practices, sales and marketing best practices, sales, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales tools, sales training, best sales practices;