Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

Classes are over, final presentations to the management of this semester's companies are completed and, on Sunday, I finally...and reluctantly...punched the 'SUBMIT" button for submit grades.  For me, grading is always the worst part of being a professor.  With complex marketing projects this semester from companies such as Black Duck, Accounting Management Solutions, Nameplates for Industry, Paytronix, Boston Financial Management and Fraser Engineering, it's been an exceptional period with a very strong class of students.  Hence, my problem with having to define the exactness between a B+ and an A-.

Tags: making great presentations, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, sales training, sales boot camp, sales checklists, Tufts ELS

Late Friday afternoon, I managed to squeeze into the Winhall General Store minutes before closing time and found myself waiting in line beside my friend, Mike, to order takeout.

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

I love my jobs...

...Derby Management, Professor at Tufts and Chairman of Common Angels.  A perfect imbalance of lots of complex work, high emotional and intellectual involvement and demanding assignments and projects. And, most of all, I really enjoy both the stimulation and the satisfaction from teaching marketing at Tufts.  It's complex, rapidly changing, and most importantly, real world work with great students who are eager to prove themselves.  All of which blends perfectly both into our Derby Management clients and even into the exciting, crazy and imperfect world of early stage investing.

It’s final exam time in my juniors and seniors Marketing course, where for the entire semester, my students are grouped into six teams which solve complex assignments given to them a month before the semester begins by the senior management of small and middle market businesses. 

All of the 13 weeks then get boiled down to a 50 minute presentation at which the team members present their findings, recommendations and implementation tactics to the senior management of their companies. After which, each of the team members need to send me their takeaways from their specific project. Three company presentations last Wednesday, and three coming up this week.  Now the tough job of grading, which is always the most difficult part of my job as a professor...ugh!

I thought that Matt Guiness’ comments to me this morning on his takeaways were particularly sound for all of us setting out this week to turn our attention away from the tragedy and celebration of last week and back to focus on our various work assignments and projects:

Tags: sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, marketing effectiveness, marketing management, sales boot camps, Tufts marketing projects

Click for Video on our Sales Management Boot Camp:  Oct. 6th-8th

 

Tags: sales coaching, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales boot camps, sales checklists

Impossible now to look out my home office windows in Vermont.  Snow drifts cover the window, and even if I were crazy enough to try to shovel them away, the 50 feet between the windows and the driveway is one giant ice cube of snow packed 3 feet deep.  Spring?  Maybe in August.  My great-grandfather Horace, who lived up the road a piece in the town of Poultney during the late 1800's , wrote often about living in Vermont with its 11 months of winta' and one month of damn poor sleddin'.

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, sales listening, sales jobs, sales boot camps, sales checklists

 The 2013 Sales Management Boot Camp

We're dialed in for another exciting, engaging, and exhausting Sales Management Boot Camp from late Sunday afternoon, October 6th through Tuesday afternoon, October 8th at the MIT Endicott House.
-Six years, 350+ highly satisfied graduates!
-Everyone attends is focused on two simple questions:

Tags: Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales management training, sales plans, sales jobs, sales boot camps, sales checklists

Vermont this past weekend probably had the best back-to-back two days on the hill for this season. 

Superb blue skies, warm temps, perfect snow, smiling faces, barbecue on the deck. Exceptional! There was nothing better than Saturday...except Sunday. 

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, sales training, sales plans, sales boot camp, sales checklists

The 2013 Sales Management Boot Camp

We're dialed in for another exciting, engaging, and exhausting Sales Management Boot Camp from late Sunday afternoon, October 6th through Tuesday afternoon, October 8th at the MIT Endicott House.
.
Six years, 350+ highly satisfied graduates!

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management training, sales boot camp

Cold enough for ya’?

Last Saturday and Sunday were wicked cold on the hill.  Temp was around 10 when I left the house, about the same at the base, and who knows what is was on top since I couldn’t see anything due to the blowing snow from the 50-60mph gusts.  Wind chill?  Off the charts.  At the same time, perfect snow, great cover everywhere, but just wicked cold.  And, of course, to make it colder, we all told one another riding up the lifts that it was…what?  Wicked Cold.   This weekend, it looks like we're all going to be either complaining or rejoicing in the 15" of snow.  Glass half full, half empty? 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, improved sales management, sales management training, closing sales, sales plans, how to close sales

12”, 32”, 40”?  So, how much snow did you actually get at your house last weekend? 

In Vermont we received a paltry 12-15” depending where you stand on the hill, but there’s PLENTY of snow on every trail at Stratton for the upcoming President’s Week.  The NH beach was hit pretty hard with sustained 60mph winds which, with the super high tides, caused about 3 feet of sand to disappear from my beach, mix in with 35” of snow and head directly to my front door.  Well, maybe it was not just my house…but shoveling most of the day on Sunday made it feel like the storm singled out just one house.  This storm will be good fodder for lots of summer stories over the next few years of “remember back when…” .  Of course, by that time, 35” might have become 48”, and the time without power might be exaggerated to “weeks” and not “days”. 

Tags: Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales management training, sales listening