Partners in EXCELLENCE - Making a Difference
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.
I usually try not to rant against specific companies in this blog, but I just bought a new car–a Lexus. I had used Lexus in the past as the benchmark for outstanding sales experiences, but it’s changed. It now is aligned with every other car shopping experience I have had. It is among the worst and most distasteful buying experiences I have seen. (When will the auto manufacturers get it?!). My rant is not about this terrible experience, but about the end. I was given a survey by the sales person. It was already completed, indicating that I was completely […]
Read MoreEver wonder why we don’t get things accomplished in meetings these days? There are lots of reasons, but my pet topic right now is multitasking. The scenario is always the same…..A critical meeting is finally scheduled, it took weeks to do, but everyone is scheduled to attend The Meeting……. …….people drift into the conference room……12 minutes late…..Everyone spends the first 5 minutes jockeying for power outlets, network connections, etc.You finally start, it’s now 17 minutes into the hour….Fortunately, you’re organized, you have an agenda, you’re focused, you persevere. Things get going, in the background you hear the sound of fingers […]
Read MoreI’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. There have been many discussions in various media about passion, work, money and building businesses. What’s your view about what it takes to start, build, and grow a business?Some things I am reacting to: At the recent Dow Jones D conference, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were asked if making money was what drove them in building their businesses (In both cases, a LOT of Money!). Steve had a very interesting response. He stated that starting a business required a certain amount of insanity. He suggested that sane people would be driven […]
Read MoreI’ve been tracking, participating and experimenting in a number of social networking and other community building tools. What are your views about building your “social” or “business” networks, Quantity versus Quality? As an early invitee to LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/), I think I fell into the same trap that I saw many people doing: Going for quantity in networks versus quality. In other blogs and posts, there is lots of discussion about this, with arguments for both. I actually tend to fall on the side of a quality network rather than quantity. In LinkedIn, I have been offended by people I do […]
Read MoreI have a fear of writing to no one but myself. At the same time, I am eager to explore the world of blogging. It’s a bit a of a funny feeling, being definitely a late adopter. I actually started this a two years ago, as a complement to my company’s website. For a few months, I actually posted articles and thoughts. However, it was really a struggle, it didn’t feel right. To some degree it felt too preachy and arrogant. I also wondered, how did the blog fit with the business oriented website at http://www.excellenc.com/. So I dropped it.Lately, […]
Read MoreYes, the “Snake Oil” school of selling still exists. I was amused to read Janathan Clements’ article in the June 8th edition of the Wall Street Journal (Personal Journal, Page D1). Jonathan articulates the issues far better than I. Enjoy the article! Sales School: What Your Insurance AgentIs Learning From the ‘Annuity Gladiator’June 8, 2005; Page D1I can’t recall precisely when I got my first message, and I have no idea how I got on this particular email distribution list. But at some point last year, I started receiving emails aimed at insurance agents, offering to pay me commissions of […]
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