Back in Vermont for the long weekend and find myself-as usual-trying to balance my time with the seasonal rhythms of the long list of “Things to Do Before The Snow” hanging in the workshop with the necessity of taking quiet time to do real work that just can’t be squeezed into the frentic workweek. No complaints here since it is what it is, and, quite frankly, I enjoy the pace plus I have the privilige of working and playing in the mountains of Vermont and on the beach in NH. By the way, an interesting factoid is that Vermont used to be seaside property-500 million years ago-and the acclaimed Vermont marble is, in fact, created from miles of compacted seashells squeezed up from sea floor as the continents pushed toward one another over those millenia.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management, sales effectiveness, selling, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, leadership
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.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training
In her 1967 hit, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Aretha Franklin takes these Otis Redding lyrics to a new dimension as she blasts out “Re, Re, Re, Respect” in the middle of the song on her way to making this tune a landmark in the feminist movement, and what is often considered to be one of the best songs of the R&B era. I love music-any kind, any genre-from Timberlake to Usher to Eminem, to 40’s Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey, but Aretha’s song has a special place in my tune-filled head, so it’s not unusual when I’m truly relaxed to find that some deeply hidden player in my sub consciousness suddenly just switches on and plays “RESPECT”.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales effectiveness, selling, selling skills
Movin’ the Needle – How Fast to Step on the Gas?
Last week I was able to combine visiting one of my most engaging customers, Lake Sunapee Bank in the picture-perfect town of Newport, NH, with talking to my favorite economists, Brenda.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales effectiveness, selling, selling skills
Just got back from my almost-daily early morning walk up and down the beach. Today looks like another overcast but pleasant day, but duty calls, and I’m off to the Boston office. Last Sunday, there was fog so thick that it was hard to see the ocean since it was just at that tipping point between fog, heavy mist and light rain-all of which made my daily search for sea glass impossible.
Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales effectiveness, selling, selling skills
This column this month is a continuation of the thought process from January’s “Hawks & Doves” discussion that drew a large number of comments. Hopefully, this will do the same since it is meant to be of a “Sales Tips” piece.
Tags: sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, selling, selling skills, strategic planning
Coyotes & Other Critters
Tags: sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, selling, selling skills, strategic planning
With a solid January put to bed, everyone seems to be taking a deep breath, sitting back and taking a concentrated assessment of just how they’re going to accomplish their 2010 objectives now that the 1st month dust has settled. The board has now approved the annual business plans, departmental budgets have been confirmed, sales meeting kickoffs are behind us, and it now comes down to the hard work of day-to-day departmental management and Blocking & Tackling week-by-week through the year. Right?
Tags: sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, selling, selling skills, strategic planning
In addition to the work we do with our customers, I’m a professor at Tufts, where I teach Sales & Marketing within the Tufts entrepreneurship program. Great students, great faculty, hard work and very rewarding in the fact that it tests my skills, energy and the small amount of intellect that I sometimes think I have. Nothing is more real than addressing 20 students at 8:30 for three hours every week for 13 weeks.
Tags: sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, selling, selling skills
