With everything going on around us…the pressures of the end of the year sales, the craziness of December in general, the senseless tragedy in Connecticut, and the continued stupidity of the party-entrenched Washington politicians carrying on ivory tower debates over what will determine the economic stability of our country for years to come, it’s hard sometimes to maintain focus on the things that really count.
Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales plans
With a long weekend of maxed-out football from Thanksgiving Day high school to the Pats, I realize that I'm constantly comparing professional sports teams to professional sales organizations on the basis of....
Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales jobs
With snowboarding just around the corner…in 35 days (but who’s counting?), I happened to take a trip to 1 Derby Lane in Waterbury, Vermont to see the boys at the best snowboard company in America, Rome Snowboards. I’ve been riding Rome gear for 10+ years now, and it’s far superior to those other guys who also make a couple of boards in Vermont. Having said that, I also need to mention that I do have a very strong bias toward Rome since I'm on their board of directors, and greatly enjoy working with co-founders, Josh and Paul. Great company, great product and great management! Come ride with me this winter at Stratton, and I'll show you.
Tags: sales coaching, sales, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, how to close sales
Most days, I commute back and forth from the NH beach on the left to our sales office in Boston. For most of the year, the commute is not an issue since I leave early and can usually squeeze in a quick walk on the sand at dusk. For the rest of the year, I come and go in the dark, but since that particular seasonal shift also marks the snowboarding season, I know I'm headed to the mountains at the end of the week anyway, which takes the edge off the commute.
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, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales enablment, sales jobs
With the big Vermont “Cut Down Day” behind me last weekend and a refrigerator list of only 14 items to complete before the end of the month and the first of the November snows, the daunting tasks of getting ready for another Vermont winta’ seem to be relatively contained. But then, this is Vermont, and just like my perfectly-planned schedules at the beginning of every month always look, well… “perfect”, shortly into the fall season or into every business quarter, there’s always reshuffles and “squeeze-me-ins”, and the only thing that I can really control is how many hours I can work.
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, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales jobs
Every good sales organization is charged with tension...especially right now. Here we are only a couple of days away from closing Q3. Friday night will define the tale of the tape against which we measure both our company's objectives and our own personal quotas. Then, just to punch the tension up a notch, next Monday morning, at the crack of dawn, with a turn of the page and a click of the mouse, we're immediately thrust into the super-critical 63 selling days of Q4.
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, selling, sales management training, selling skills, sales optomization, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, sales jobs
It’s been a superb summer! Simply…superb…no better word.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans
To a fault (yea, I know, I have many), I'm a big believer in the rhythm of business and the rhythm of the seasons. Maybe as a confirmed 6th generation Vermonter, paying attention to the seasonal ebb and flow becomes a necessity living in an environment which only has two seasons: "snow" and "bad sleddin' ". In reality, Vermonters actually live with at least 7 different seasons which include "Mud", "Hayin'", and "Summa' Tourist" intermixed among the Big 4.
At my house on the NH coast, the year is divided much more simply into the seasons of "Beach", which is anything above 55 degrees and "No Beach", which includes hats, heavy jackets and the necessity to keep walking fast. Yesterday Jack, my favorite lifeguard who just happens to be a software marketing guru in his alter ego real life, pointed out that there were only 7 more days before the season ended, to which I responded... "What the heck are you talking about???" But, sadly, he's right. Jack's starting a great job next week with a big corporate powerhouse in Boston, the kids are back to school, my teaching at MIT and Tufts starts the first week in September, and I'll soon be back to my daily 4:00 AM morning commute to the Boston office.
Tags: sales productivity, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, selling skills, closing sales, sales training, sales plans
Lots of interesting comments from my last blog on the Rolling Stones. Everything from “You’re showing your age”, to “How can you put the Stones ahead of the Beatles…Bruce…Zeppelin…Hendrix…Black Eyed Peas...and so on?” Since I wanted to get everyone thinking about how to keep themselves and their sales personas young, it looks like from all of the emails that I received that I hit a cord. Sometime this fall, I’ll follow up with my favorite/most successful individual artist. Someone who, like the Stones, is highly successful, always on the edge and keeps reinventing themselves...but is much younger.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, sales management training, selling skills, sales optomization, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans
No question that the Stones are the greatest rock band in music history...and least in my world. They’ve released 24 studio albums, done nine concert albums and have album sales estimated at more than 200 million worldwide. But most importantly, they’re still at it, still writing, still rocking and still living large. As the Stones celebrate their 50th year as a band, and Mick and Keith both turn 70, there are talks of another world tour. And, if there is, I’m in the front row, as usual. Never missed a U.S. tour, and I don’t plan to for what might be the last one, but then I said that about both the Steel Wheels and Voodoo Lounge tours.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, leadership, finding sales jobs
