Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

The best mix...

The best of all possible worlds...I love what I do! 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales planning, selling, sales training, sales jobs, finding sales jobs

Deep into January, and already settling into the rhythms of the year...

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, sales management training, sales optomization, sales training, sales plans

Surviving January in Vermont means taking a long look at the woodpile and measuring what's left balanced against the need to heat the house for the next three months on one hand and, on the other, making sure that all of the wood gets consumed so that I'm not hauling unused wood back to the woodlot up on the ridge.

The good news about last winta' is that we did not use a lot of wood-maybe only two cords. The bad news is that I ended up having to haul three cords back into the woodlot and restacking it up on the ridge since the LP will not allow the ugly wood tent to stay up during the summer.  Must agree with the LP on this; the grey tarped wood tent really is ugly.

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

Yesterday was a great day for family, snow (at least here in Vermont), gigabytes of pictures taken with newly unwrapped cameras and iPhones, along with way too much food.  Just what Christmas is supposed to be.  I could have done without the 350 mile rotation to “therealworld”  commuting from "vermontwinterfantasyland”, however, other than that, it was all good.

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, sales management training, sales training, sales plans

Dave Brubeck...

When I was 16, my friend and I hitchiked to Newport one summer heading to the NewPort Jazz Festival attending the free workshops during the day and sneaking into the concerts at night to listen to the true legends of jazz crossing the spectrums from Basie, Coltrane, Gillespie, and Monk to Dave Brubeck, whom I had never heard before. Five summers ago, I had the opportunity to be part of an intimate 90 minute session, where Brubeck, looking deceptively frail, once again took absolute command of the keyboard as he started the set with that same mystical lilt heard right at the beginning  of "Take Five".  I vividly remember Brubeck both back in the early 60's in Newport and also in a small art center a couple of years ago in Vermont and was saddened to hear about the death of this true legend last week.

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, selling, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, Zig Ziglar and sales

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

How many times a week do you hear that request for "just five minutes" of your time?  Maybe it's from your boss or a co-worker, or maybe it's a non-business friend or your spouse as in... "Can you help me for just five minutes?" (spouse translation: "Can you go to the drug store/shopping/cleaning out the closet for me?")

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

Brought in the last of the wood from up on the ridge last weekend.  Now, if Tom the Wood Guy shows up next week, four cords should do the trick for what is being forecasted as a heavy winta’.  Last Saturday, I asked the Boys on the Bench (all of whom were dressed out in various shades of camo given huntin’ season) down at the general store, and they’re all predicting a long season of tough storms.  Actually, I’m not really sure that I got a very accurate forecast since everyone, including the Chief of Police of our town (population 647), was embroiled in a hot and heavy debate regarding whether it was a good thing or not that the combination Mobil station/gun store down in Bennington was now selling modified AK47s.   Vermonters… you gotta love ‘em. 

Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales management training, sales training, sales listening

On my way to NYC on the Acela this morning.  Door to door, three hours, and I’m then plunked into the heart of Manhattan after working in an uninterrupted environment, having a not-so-bad breakfast and doing some quiet soul searching.  A perfect trip.

Tags: sales management effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales management training, Sales quota, sales training, sales listening

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