Up Against the Wall: The Celtics & Sales Quotas

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, May 12, 2011

It certainly applied to the Celtics before last night’s devastating loss to the Heat, and it certainly applies to those sales professionals who are struggling half way through the quarter with not enough points yet on the board. Did the Celtics get outplayed by the Heat the holy trinity of LeBron, Wade and Bosh? Sure, but the die was cast going into the game last night. Tough enough that the Celtics were being outplayed throughout the series by the Miami Machine. Tougher still was the fact that the Celtics looked and acted like the old men that they are. Add to all of that the fact that they were up against the wall, crushed by their prior losses and facing an enormous hill to climb. Take all of this into the equation, throw in superb young athletes, and it was impossible to survive.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, marketing effectiveness, Sales quota, sales training, management

Sales Effectiveness & Your Summer Sales Calendar

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, May 03, 2011

End of one sales month, and the beginning of another. Just a turn of the page in the digital sales book, but a wakeup to the fact that the quarter is one third over and rapidly racing towards the end of June. I actually love the 2nd quarter since it still retains all of the excitement and energy of the new year kickoff...way back in January... plus we now have four months of real customer experience under our belts. Better to update sales plans and tweak selling tactics for the balance of the year.

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Tags: sales productivity, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, management, business tools, business planning, business coaching, sales optimication

So, You Think You're Sales Forecasting Job is Tough?

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Apr 28, 2011

Sales forecasting is always a tough requirement. After all, you’re forecasting the future, and, almost by definition, it’s going to be wrong. It’s merely a question of the degree of wrongness, which becomes the much vaulted new metric of “forecast accuracy”. When you’re in sales, it’s part of the badge, and anyone who complains that “it’s tough to forecast the future” should start looking for a job on the shipping dock.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales tools, improved sales management, sales management training, sales optomization, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, sales optimication, economic stimulus

Winning the Marathon; Winning in Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Apr 20, 2011

Boston is just a terrific city.  Small, easy to walk around, and one of the greatest sports towns in America.  The Patriots are either the Super Bowl Champs...or not; the Celtics are always the leaders and the Sox, well, that's another story given this year's opening season. 

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, marketing effectiveness, marketing productivity, sales training, management, leadership, marketing management

New Website -Our 2nd Step to Sales Optimization

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Sat, Apr 16, 2011

As a Professor of Marketing at Tufts, (and just maybe someone who think that he knows something about sales effectiveness and optimization),I've felt like the Cobbler's Kid for about a year now. 

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, marketing effectiveness, marketing productivity, Sales quota, sales training, business planning, marketing management

Jack's Vermont - Hunters

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Fri, Apr 15, 2011

No, it's not hunting season in Vermont. That's in the fall last I looked, and I'm pretty sure about that since it's one of the few times of year that I don't venture too far into the woods. Largely because there are 21,000 guys out there every day stumbling around in clothes fashioned on the theme of "Mr. Deliverance goes to Wal-Mart" all with guns and live ammunition. Scares me just to think about it.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, sales management training, sales optomization, Sales quota, sales training, sales optimication, The Competitive Edge

Day 21. Boss? No Boss?

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Nov 30, 2010

Often times bringing one’s manager into a sales situation late in the funnel process produces positives results. A different perspective. A new set of eyes…and ears.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management, sales effectiveness, selling, improved sales management, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, small business management

Movin' The Needle: 39 Days (or so) Left in 2010

Posted by Lynton Web Team on Mon, Nov 01, 2010

1. 39-Still Plenty of Time

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Tags: sales productivity, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, sales management training, sales training, business tools, business planning, The Competitive Edge, november

Movin' The Needle: Prep for the 57 Days Left in 2010

Posted by Lynton Web Team on Thu, Oct 07, 2010

1. Take this Weekend

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Tags: sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales management training, sales training, business planning, business coaching, sales optimication

Time to Change How We Sell…

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Sun, Sep 12, 2010

Just got back from a Saturday afternoon reading on the beach and was, once again, struck by the rapid change in just one week in almost everything.    Just before I succumbed to the soft sounds of the surf and the 75 degree temps which somehow forced me to stretch out on the sand and take a short nap, I noticed that the evidence of change was everywhere.

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training