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Making A Difference – Thoughts, Observations and Opinions
This is Dave Brock’s Blog.
It offers my views on a variety of business, sales, marketing, and leadership topic. My goal is to make a difference for you, the reader, in both your professional and personal lives.
Latest Posts
“Behind Every C Player, There’s A ……..”
There’s the old saying, “Behind every great individual is a great [Insert spouse, partner, mom, dad, family, mentor].” Let’s update this for modern times, we could say, “Behind every C player, there’s a ……..” Hmmm, troubling, isn’t it? But be honest with yourselves. You’re reading this, no one is watching you, you can reflect, privately, on your own performances as leaders and managers. We have C players in our organizations, because we let them stay in the organization and we tolerate C performance. What’s this say about our own performance and leadership capabilities? If our job is to maximize the […]
“What Would You Like To Know Most About _________?”
Recently, I read an article entitled, “The One Key Question You Must Always Ask A Prospective Customer; This simple (yet often overlooked!) question makes selling to your ideal clients or potential customers far easier and more effective.” After the drum roll and the melodramatic scenario, the author stated: “What would you like to know most about ____________?” The idea being you fill in the blank with what you want the customer to talk to you about. The particular example, was, “What would you like to know most about content marketing?” Now I get what the author is trying to achieve […]
Settling For Non-Performance
How often do we settle for non performance? Recently, I was speaking with a colleague. We were talking about a client of his. The CEO was struggling to grow the company. As they started discussing the people on the team, the CEO said, “I’ll never be able to attract A players, I have to settle for C players, with a few B’s.” In another situation, I was speaking with an executive. Win rates, business performance were tragically low and had been for some time. I posed the question, “Do you have the right players on board?” The response was, “We […]
If People Buy From People, Why Are We Racing In The Opposite Direction?
In complex B2B buying, I believe the old maxim, “People buy from people,” is still highly relevant. There’s probably a lot of data that supports this, but, anecdotally, let’s reflect: Complex B2B buying decisions are most often consensus decisions. Customers are getting other people in their organizations involved in the problem solving and decision making process. They value or need the engagement of others to make the decision. They know the active buy-in and engagement of others is critical to the success in the change management efforts. Surveys show the importance of Trust, the value of Relationships, the importance the […]
On Harassment
For the last couple of months, as more and more cases of harassment are publicized (and we are only seeing a small fraction of a percent of the cases), all of us have to step back and think of what we may have done–or not done with the inappropriate exploitation of power and demeaning of human beings. It’s caused me to pause and reflect, did I ever do anything purposefully or accidentally to cause harm to a woman or anyone else? The physical attacks and abuse were easy to discount. They have always been unimaginable and unthinkable. I wasn’t raised […]
It’s Not How Well You Sell, It’s How Well You Can Get Your People To Sell!
I’m constantly amazed by the mistaken view too many sales managers have about their role. A reader called my attention to a discussion on LinkedIn. A sales manager was bragging about how he could “Sell Circles Around Anyone.” Clearly, he didn’t understand his job and with that attitude would fail his people, his company, and his ability to reach his goals. The “Superman/woman Seller” syndrome is all too common in sales managers. Too often, we make the mistake of moving our very best sellers into sales management roles. These characters sweep in and are driven to demonstrate their selling superiority […]