Are you Relevant? ...and more sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Feb 04, 2014

Cannot imagine what it would be like to become the CEO of Microsoft, but since my buds, Bill and Steve, once again passed over my application, I was reading up on Satya Nadella on Saturday morning (since this is a winta' without snowboarding), and I was struck my his simple, but provoking quote that...

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Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Management Best Practices, sales plan process, selling skills, sales training, sales management boot camps

Good Ol' Basics...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jul 24, 2013

John Landry and I had the opportunity to present the week before last to the 128 Innovation Capital Group at the IBM Innovation Center on the subject of angel investing.  Great group of entrepreneurs and Annette Reynolds, the Executive Director, runs a tight ship.  Check out her next Pitch Party at the Piranha Pond, which is coming up on the 30th at 6:00PM at the Tech Sandbox, in  Southborough  With the significant market shifts in angel investing in general and specifically regarding the very positive changes at Common Angels, where John and I are partners, it was a great time to wave the flag and talk about something we're both passionate about.

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Tags: Sales Optimization, Sales Best Practices, sales, sales management, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales tools, sales management training, selling skills, sales training, sales plans, sales management boot camps

Lifeguards, Marketing Interns...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jul 10, 2013

Jack McAvoy, Lifeguard & Rock-Solid Marketing Guy!

A senior marketing executive at Parametric Technology, Jack and I met a few years ago out of our common love of caring for the beach.  Jack's been the senior lifeguard in Wallis Sands for a long time and is as passionate about taking care of this beach (Rated in the Top 5 cleanest beaches in the U.S. ) and its visitors as he is about the practice of marketing in the rapidly changing ecosystem of 2013. 

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Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, selling skills, sales boot camp, sales listening, best sales practices;

Blogger Ben Franklin...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Tue, Jul 02, 2013


My favorite blogger, especially at this time of year as we prepare to celebrate the 4th, is Benjamin Franklin.

An amazing patriot, which is why I always tie Franklin to the 4th.  An inventor, an entrepreneur, the creator of Poor Richard's Almanac (the leading blog of his day), an extraordinary statesman, a lover of good food and wine, and provider of wonderfully simple quotes such as...

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

Hope is not a strategy...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Mon, Jun 10, 2013

Art Brault and I have worked together in a couple of companies over the years, and now he's a Regional VP of Sales at Brainshark, a leading Sales Enablement company.  Right now, Art's working hard, thinking through deals and bringing all of his considerable experience to bear pushing to make sure that his team makes quota for the quarter. 

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Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling skills, Sales quota, sales plans, sales boot camp

Getting the Very Best Jobs...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, Jun 05, 2013

I open each semester at Tufts by asking my students what my job is.  After a couple of awkward minutes including... "to teach us about marketing", to which I respond, "That might be a problem because I don't know that much about marketing", my real answer is..."to make sure that you get the highest paying jobs that you're going to find to be the most rewarding".   And, at the end of the day, that's really the most important result from any university. 

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Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling, sales management training, selling skills, marketing effectiveness, sales training, sales jobs, finding sales jobs, sales boot camps, strategic planning, Tufts university, Tufts ELS

Just Give Me Doonesbury...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, May 23, 2013

Back in the day...when I actually read a physical newspaper, I always carried the paper to the treadmill and immediately opened the last page of The Boston Globe and began the day by reading the comics. Today that daily routine has been replaced by my iPad and the digital excellence of experiencing the daily WSJ.  I still read the so-so content of the Globe, but only online and although the comics are digitally available, even techy-nerdy-me would say..."it's not quite the same". 

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Tags: sales productivity, sales coaching, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales coach, sales management coach, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, selling skills, sales boot camp, sales listening

The Winhall General Store, my friend, Mike...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, May 09, 2013

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.

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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

"Deliberate Practice"...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Apr 18, 2013

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

 

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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

Snow Metrics...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Thu, Mar 28, 2013

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'.

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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