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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
May I Speak To Ms. Company Inc?
I got a really interesting email today–actually, I get these emails periodically from various organizations. Today’s was from a very large company that we’ve done business with before (we are a customer of the company). The email was very personal, it started: Dear Dave………. It continued with an interesting message about our relationship, introducing me to new products and capabilities. Overall, it was a pretty good letter. At the end, it was signed by: “Company, Inc.” (OK, I’m chickening out, I’m not mentioning the name of the company—actually, I get these types of letters from a number of organizations). Hmm, […]
Are You Selling Within Your Own Company?
I’m constantly surprised by how poorly many sales people communicate within their own organizations. Sales people complain, “I’m not getting the information I need to finalize my proposal to the customer,” “My customer isn’t getting the service levels I committed,” “I’m not getting the support I need to do this deal,” and the whining can go on. At the same time, when I talk to people within the organization, I hear, “Our sales people aren’t keeping us informed of what’s going on, we need to know what’s happening to manage our resources properly,” “The sale person just dumps all this […]
What Happened To The Conversation?
This morning, I was out for my morning run around the lake. Up ahead, I saw a guy approaching, wearing headphones, smiling, head bouncing with the music. Looked like he was having a great run. Everyone he passed, he shouted, “Hi!” As he approached me, he shouted, “Hi!” I responded, “Great day isn’t it?” He didn’t respond, and continued on. I was struck by his lack of response and thought about it during the rest of my run. I realized, that he wasn’t interested in engaging me in a conversation, after all, he was wearing headphones, preferring to listen to […]
For Sales Success – Everything Passes Through Finance!
In Tom Peters’ The Little BIG Things, on Item #46, he makes the point that “Everything Passes Through Finance.” It’s such a important, yet too often ignored critical success factor for sales people. In virtually every situation, Finance is always somehow involved in the sale. Sometimes, it’s just paying the invoice; other times it’s issuing the PO; and very often, it’s approving the budget and providing the funding. We all know this, but I am continually astounded by the sales people that neither know the key people in their customers’ Finance organizations, nor do they “speak the language.” It seems if finance […]
7 Questions You Must Be Able To Answer To Win The Deal!
I’m constantly about how few sales people really understand what their customers are buying. They know what they are selling, but they can’t explain what they are selling it for—that is why the customer is considering buying the solution and the value it creates for them. There are a few fundamental questions the sales person must be able to answer if they want to present their offerings in a way that is compelling and connects with customers: How does it help them grow their business? That is how will they increase revenues/sales, how will it help them enter new markets, […]
Call Avoidance
I’ve fallen into a trap, it seems my preferred mode of communication is becoming digital–that is, I email, tweet, text. It’s so fast, convenient. To tell you the truth, often it’s the most effective. A lot of our communication is “asynchronous,” or one way. Often, we just want to let someone know something or give a reminder. We really don’t need to engage a person in a discussion. It’s fast, it’s easy, I don’t have to worry about phone tag or voice mail. In my busy world, I’ve come to rely on these tools as my preferred mode of communication. […]