Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

John Landry and I had the opportunity to present the week before last to the 128 Innovation Capital Group at the IBM Innovation Center on the subject of angel investing.  Great group of entrepreneurs and Annette Reynolds, the Executive Director, runs a tight ship.  Check out her next Pitch Party at the Piranha Pond, which is coming up on the 30th at 6:00PM at the Tech Sandbox, in  Southborough  With the significant market shifts in angel investing in general and specifically regarding the very positive changes at Common Angels, where John and I are partners, it was a great time to wave the flag and talk about something we're both passionate about.

Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales, sales management, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, sales management boot camps

Find any salesperson, woman or man, and you'll find a person who cares about their shoes.

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, selling, sales management training, sales plans, sales boot camp, sales jobs, finding sales jobs, sales boot camps

Jack McAvoy, Lifeguard & Rock-Solid Marketing Guy!

A senior marketing executive at Parametric Technology, Jack and I met a few years ago out of our common love of caring for the beach.  Jack's been the senior lifeguard in Wallis Sands for a long time and is as passionate about taking care of this beach (Rated in the Top 5 cleanest beaches in the U.S. ) and its visitors as he is about the practice of marketing in the rapidly changing ecosystem of 2013. 

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, selling skills, sales boot camp, sales listening, best sales practices;

My favorite blogger, especially at this time of year as we prepare to celebrate the 4th, is Benjamin Franklin.

An amazing patriot, which is why I always tie Franklin to the 4th.  An inventor, an entrepreneur, the creator of Poor Richard's Almanac (the leading blog of his day), an extraordinary statesman, a lover of good food and wine, and provider of wonderfully simple quotes such as...

Tags: sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales boot camp

So, this logic may not make sense to anyone else but me, but here goes...

Tags: summer networking; rolling stones, martha and the vandellas, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, improved sales management, closing sales, sales boot camp

I was sitting with the senior team at one of our most successful customers last Friday, and we were prepping for an upcoming sales and marketing planning meeting later this week. 

Status:      Solid first half performance
Status:      Great processes & people
Question:  How does everything fit for the 2nd half?

Tags: Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, selling, sales management training, sales training, sales listening, sales culture, sales boot camps

I open each semester at Tufts by asking my students what my job is.  After a couple of awkward minutes including... "to teach us about marketing", to which I respond, "That might be a problem because I don't know that much about marketing", my real answer is..."to make sure that you get the highest paying jobs that you're going to find to be the most rewarding".   And, at the end of the day, that's really the most important result from any university. 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling, sales management training, selling skills, marketing effectiveness, sales training, sales jobs, finding sales jobs, sales boot camps, strategic planning, Tufts university, Tufts ELS

The semester is over.  Grades are in... without complaints this semester.  Commencement was more than a week ago.  Summer is lurking around somewhere, but not here on the beach unless you like 52 degrees, which clearly beats the 12" of snow in VT on Sunday. 

Tags: sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management training, sales boot camp, sales jobs

Back in the day...when I actually read a physical newspaper, I always carried the paper to the treadmill and immediately opened the last page of The Boston Globe and began the day by reading the comics. Today that daily routine has been replaced by my iPad and the digital excellence of experiencing the daily WSJ.  I still read the so-so content of the Globe, but only online and although the comics are digitally available, even techy-nerdy-me would say..."it's not quite the same". 

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling skills, sales boot camp, sales listening

I was walking around Kendall Square late yesterday afternoon.  A perfect spring day with the added electricity in the rarified air of Cambridge due to the normal abnormality of MIT, multiple graduations happening this weekend, and entrepreneurs doing more deals than I've seen in years fueled by big money happenning on Wall Street.  A perfect day...until I realized that I was not hearing my normal, "Hey Jack..."  Not at CIC, not at Dunkin's, not even walking through the Cambridge Marriott's lobby.

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales enablement, sales planning, sales management training, sales training, sales boot camp