Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog

"Plan A" this morning in Vermont-right at the start of school vacation week-would have been to have blue skies, six feet of snow already on the ground and morning freshies providing the perfect first runs.  Instead, we have...

Tags: Sales Best Practices, small business management, business coaching, how to close sales, best sales practices;, how to write a sales plan, sales effectivness, writing sales plans, Derby Entrepreneurship Center@Tufts, 2022businessplansuccess

This past Wednesday, I started to see a few hundred downloads of my ebook on "Writing the Winning Business Plan", and then a few hundred more on Thursday, and already early this AM, lots of detailed questions from readers. Then I realized that it's that time of year that new students in the MITx course on business planning were gearing up, and this is a core read.  The book is also used in my own teaching every fall at MIT in the ME course taught by Dr. Chun, who asked me 21 years ago if I could assist in teaching a few business principles to his undergrad and grad students.  That exciting experience, which continues every fall at MIT, also led me to the opportunity to teach at Tufts 16 years ago.  

Tags: marketing productivity, small business management, business coaching, how to write a business plan, marketing planning, writing business plans, 2022 business planning

After college at BC, I went into the Peace Corps returning to the world from Tanzania three years later to face the reality of finding a job.  A couple of twists and turns, and I found myself working as a purchasing expeditor for Honeywell as the company attempted to shift from manufacturing and selling heating systems into what was then called the first "mini-computers".  It was a brave attempt that failed when a little local company called Digital Equipmentdid it better.  Most of the time I've come to learn that the phrase "first mover advantage" is a startup myth more often eclipsed by the truer phrase that "most pioneers get shot in the back."

Tags: the economy, Sales Optimization, improved sales management, sales boot camp, small business management, strategic planning, best sales practices;, sales management productivity, writing sales plans, Selling Successfully in a Covid World

Too often we business types roll our eyes to the ceiling when we think about academia. Our images of university life immediately flash back to our own college days, but that image has little to do with the reality of university life today. 

Today, college students are wicked bright, very hard working and highly focused on jobs, careers and the social impact of making a difference in the lives of others.  As a group, current students and alums for the past eight or ten year are a massive category with huge numbers, but they also have far less spending power due to the very high cost of housing in general and the massive student debt that they carry. 

Tags: sales productivity, sales management, improved sales management, small business management, management, business coaching, leadership

Last year was my first winter living on the New Hampshire beach.  Commuting to Boston for work and to Vermont on the weekends to snowboard proved not to be such a big deal, and I had this stupid belief that living on the ocean would not produce as much snow.  My brain kept tossing around phrases like "Gulf Stream"  which I then very nicely translated into "less snow". In reality, the beach yielded just as much snow as the 120 inches we received in Vermont.  The key difference (I learned the hard way) was that Vermont possesses one very important component that's missing in the tight confines of a NH beach, and that's plenty of space to plow and dump the stuff.  I also quickly learned that even in The Live Free or Die State, there are zoning laws about when, where and at what volume one can actually move snow.  In Vermont, snow is snow, and the only law is just dump it anywhere...and quickly...because there's more coming tomorrow.

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, selling skills, Sales quota, sales training, small business management, October, strategic planning

Walking along the beach this morning, I was asking myself “What’s it all about?” for a number of reasons.  Is my master plan to be the best sales guy?  Probably not-I’m good, but far from the best.  Is it to be the best sales manager?  It used to be, but time has passed me by on that, and I’ll never be as good as some of the people I coach.  Then maybe, it’s to be the best coach?  I think so, but I also realize that in many aspects, I’m still a student, not the Zen Master I want to be...yet. This actually drives me in a lot of what I do reading all of the time, studying harder, and it’s why I specifically teach at MIT and Tufts. 

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

On Monday, The WSJ published the US Chamber of Commerce's June survey results on the outlook of 1400 business execs small business across the country.  And the answer is:  "No confidence", which of course (surprise of surprises...) was a real shock to me and I'm sure everyone else in the small business community.

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management, sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales tools, selling, sales management training, selling skills, sales optomization, Sales quota, sales training, small business management

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

Tags: the economy, small business management, economic stimulus