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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
Doing The Right Thing, Doing Things Right
I believe there is a basic sense of honesty and integrity to the way people behave–though everyday there are stories that test that belief. I believe that people tend to try to do the right thing. Yes, every once in a while you get burned, but you move on. But this is not a post on honesty and integrity. It’s just a simple post on doing the right thing and doing things right. When things are going right, we tend never to question this. Doing the right thing is easy, it’s natural, there’s no problem, no tugging in the back […]
Buyers Are Self Educating, So Should Sellers!
Buying has changed. The traditional role of the sales person in “teaching” the customer about solutions and products is much less important. Buyers are self educating on the web. Depending on which research you read, as much as 70% of the buying process is completed before sales people are even engaged. The web provides a vast array of sources of information to prospective customers about solutions. Companies are responding, providing rich content, helping prospects better understand solutions. Discussion groups, user groups, LinkedIn, Facebook, all provide more information than a prospect could possibly consume. Simple Google queries can provide endless sources of information to […]
Deal Value Or Buyer Value?
A few years ago, a client called me very frustrated. He was the CEO of a large company, he’d been traveling in the field, visiting customers and sales people. He told me of a ride-along with a sales person in Boston. Proudly, the sales person was talking about a large system he had just sold. When my client asked him, “What did you sell if for?” The quick response was, “For $7.5 million!” Some of you may be scratching your heads wondering, “Why is the CEO upset, sounds like a great deal?” What upset the CEO was, he wanted to […]
“We Aren’t In Kansas Anymore, Dorothy”
If anyone has doubts about how much professional selling is changing, download and read Mike Schultz and John Doerr’s report, What Sales Winners Do Differently. Mike and John were curious about the buyer’s perspective. They interviewed hundreds of buyers to see what the winning sellers do and how it differed from those who competed, but weren’t selected. The results are compelling. I wish I could say surprising, but it’s what we and others have seen for years. But now their data supports what many have been talking about qualitatively. The report highlights a number of issues. A couple leaped out […]
But Your Price Is Still Too High!
My post, “But Your Price Is Too High” has generated well over 100 comments between here, LinkedIn and a few other sites. The discussion has been very intense, with lots of great ideas and some challenges. But, I still am finding some confusion. Our companies have methodologies for pricing our products and services. The price covers manufacturing costs, parts costs, warranty costs, overheads, depreciation, and a whole number of other costs we incur in designing, manufacturing, bringing a product to market and supporting it. It has to cover commissions to sales people and the channel, and it includes a margin […]
“I Need An Excuse To Get Back Into The Customer”
I hear it all the time, “I need an excuse to get back into the customer. Let me get them that case study, that reference, that white paper, anything that allows me to meet with them one more time.” Creating excuses to get back into the customer is nothing but old sales mythology. It does nothing to serve us or the customer. We’re all desperate to find customers willing to talk to us, willing to consider buying. Once we find them, once we have a meeting, we won’t let go. We want any excuse we can to get back into the […]