Disqus - Latest Comments for davebrock

Re: What Pricing Authority Should Salespeople Have?

davebrock — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 11:00:27 -0000

What a great discussion! I tend to side with Mark Hunter's point of view with solid pricing guidelines. If the sales person needs a legitimate adjustment to pricing, it should not be solely the discretion of the sales person, but a collective decision--perhaps approval by sales managers (so I would give managers some discretion), or a deal desk.

But there's another perspective we need to consider, the customers' perspectives and pricing equity/fairness to customers. Imagine customers making a $1M purchase, one pays full rate, another gets a 15% discount. Customers talk to each other, we encourage customers to talk to each other and they will talk about pricing. We create distrust, when one feels they have not gotten the same deal as another.

Additionally, some very large customers have "favored customer" clauses in their contracts. These basically say, "we want the same deal that you have provided other customers in the same buying situation.

So leaving pricing to sales discretion creates unintended consequences with our customers.

(Wow, just realized I'm years behind in this discussion!) ;-)

Re: Is it ethical to keep selling right now?

davebrock — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:38:25 -0000

Matt: What a wonderful post and an important question. It's interesting and counterintuitive when we look at COVID 19 in general. The only way we become safe and manage the situation as best possible is by collaborating and working together for shared purposes. That is the way we, as individuals, are the safest. If we looked after our own self interests, we are actually less safe and at greater risk.

It's an interesting model when we look at our customers and engaging them--not just during crises like this. When we look at our shared interests and success, we are more likely to be achiever our collective and individual goals than by focusing on our individual goals first.

Thanks for the thoughtful post, thanks for the shout outs. Regards, Dave

Re: Blurring the Line Between Sales and Marketing

davebrock — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 09:00:28 -0000

Great post Charlie. I think there's another benefit to talking to people like Ralph. I always find I learn something from these conversations. Inevitably, they build my understanding, experience, and give ideas that I might apply in another situation.

Re: 28 Sales Enablement Influencers You Need to Follow on Twitter

davebrock — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 19:57:28 -0000

Great list, I'm very flattered to be name to the list. However, it would be incomplete without people like Scott Santucci, Brian Lambert, Tim Ohai, and many of the members of the Sales Enablement Society. They are offering some real practitioner led leadership.

Thanks for the inclusion.

Re: Top sales blogs all Sales Managers need to follow

davebrock — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 15:37:53 -0000

Really a diverse group of fascinating blogs! I'm flattered to have mine included. Thank you!

Re: What Does a Sales Enablement Manager Do? These Three Pillars.

davebrock — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 18:04:21 -0000

Thanks Chris, I've actually written a lot about it. Here's a link to some of the articles: http://partnersinexcellence.... Also watch my blog Monday for a more general discussion about Sales Enablement.

I actually think we approach much of sales enablement incorrectly. I think we need to focus first on enabling the managers, then on the sales people. When we do that, we provide a platform for the managers to have bought in and constantly be coaching and reinforcing everything we do. Afterall, it's the managers that have the direct day to day responsibility for managing the performance of the team.

Glad to talk more offline. Thanks for the great discussion. Regards, Dave

Re: What Does a Sales Enablement Manager Do? These Three Pillars.

davebrock — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 08:12:53 -0000

Good article Chris Orlob. However, I'm concerned by the complete absence of any mention of the role of the Front Line Sales Manager. They are directly accountable for maximizing the performance of every person on their team.

The fact they are not mentioned or that enabling the front line sales manager is absent from this discussion is a huge missed opportunity in driving performance.

I suspect it's implicit in the discussion, but I think that's part of the problem. We must make the front line sales manager an explicit part of all our sales enablement strategies. We must focus on enabling our managers so they can maximize their people's performance. We must enable sales people with and through the front line sales manager.

Re: 8 People You Should Be Learning From.

davebrock — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 16:40:51 -0000

Dan, first I'm flattered to be included in this list. The other 8 are on my list to start reading/listening to. You're probably scratching your head with "8." You need to include yourself (for a total of 9). Your posts are in my daily feed--you make me think differently! Again, thank so much!

Re: We Need More Mentoring

davebrock — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 20:20:43 -0000

Keenan, thank you, I'm very flattered. I've been fortunate to have great mentors who gave their time, advice, caring without any expectation. The best way we can honor our mentors is by paying it forward, mentoring others.

Thank you very much! Regards, Dave

Re: Talking Sales Coaching with David Brock

davebrock — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 17:33:43 -0000

Thanks for the interview. Really enjoyed the discussion/opportunity.

Re: The Greatest Reward From Writing My Book (Not Taught)

davebrock — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:38:57 -0000

Keenan, I've always believed each of us can Make A Difference, and Change The World. You are doing so with Not Taught! Well deserved/earned success, of course no surprise.

Re: SalesLoft’s $15 Million Series B: The Details

davebrock — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 18:13:36 -0000

Awesome! Congratulations to you and the team. I know it's a lot of hard work getting to here, the funding is both a great vote of confidence and increased expectations for even further success!

Re: How small is too small for account-based marketing? #ABM

davebrock — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 08:29:18 -0000

This is a hugely important concept! Thanks for sharing it Matt. When we look at the fundamentals of ABM, it's really about personalization. What are the key drivers and priorities of the Account? Who are their customers, how does the Account serve them? What are the challenges they face in executing their strategies? How do they impact the people we deal with in the account? How do our solutions help them achieve their goals? and on and on.

These are fundamental issues for every prospect and customer. The good news is technology allows us to get this information for virtually every account, regardless of size. At least we can make reasonable guesses based on our familiarity with similar companies.

Personalization and relevance is the key to ABM. Yet it's so important, we shouldn't limit it to ABM.

Re: Surrounded By Idiots And Morons.

davebrock — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 13:38:03 -0000

Awesome post Dan! It's amazing how much changes if we just shift our mindset!

Re: 13 Must Read Sales Books to Become a Badass Sales Person [Updated]

davebrock — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 11:14:27 -0000

Great list Keenan! Add Not Taught and it's even better. Thanks for including Sales Manager Survival Guide!

Re: Why are you coaching deals rather than coaching skills?

davebrock — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 10:50:04 -0000

I have to disagree--sort of. The examples you outline are just examples of extraordinarily bad coaching. If you are doing great coaching, you are helping develop skills in a context that is current and relevant for the person to apply these skills. Deal coaching, call coaching, prospecting, etc represent opportunities to focus on skills critical to what they are trying to do right now.

For example, deal coaching has a rich array of skills we can sharpen and develop, qualifying, questioning, probing, listening, presenting, objection handling, understanding the decision-making process, understanding/developing/creating value, leveraging the sales process, dealing with competition, closing.......The list of skills can go on.

The magic about doing this coaching in the context of a deal, is the sales person can go out and immediately apply it on that deal. Furthermore, the person is likely to apply the same concepts to each deal they are working on.

You actually get a huge multiplier effect. Coaching a deal should help improve the person's ability to win the deal, shorten the sale cycle, or increase average deal size/margin. If it doesn't then it's bad coaching. So you help the person think about and execute more winning deal strategies, as well as develop their skills.

I tend to agree that too many people "coach" to the KPI. That's not coaching. The KPI is an indicator there may be an issue, but great managers look deeply for the root causes and how to correct them.

Re: How to Achieve Sales Leadership

davebrock — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 13:55:49 -0000

Denise: Flattered that you found my article a complement to yours. Really enjoyed the HBR piece (with some small shifts in some of the ideas). Thanks so much! Regards, Dave

Re: I Had to Correct Zig Ziglar, I Just Couldn’t Help Myself -The 21st-Century Demanded It

davebrock — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 11:45:56 -0000

Actually, I think the second piece of each quote can lead to terribly bad behaviors. Perhaps, a more appropriate rephrasing would be: When You Deliver More Value Than You Are Paid For, Eventually, You Will be Paid More For The Value You Deliver.

Re: 5 Skills That Will Turn Your Sales Managers Into Leaders

davebrock — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 08:59:48 -0000

It's absolutely remarkable that people aren't mentioned until the last paragraph and only in passing. The core of a leaders' job is getting things done through people.

Setting goals, developing strategies, setting expectations, and everything else is meaningless if the people responsible for implementation and execution don't understand and aren't performing at the highest levels possible.

We have too many managers, not leaders, managers hiding behind their desks and computer screens analyzing, too many hours spent closeted in meetings developing strategies, etc. These same managers won't visit customers with their people. Don't take the time to understand each person, aren't coaching and developing them.

Leadership is about leading, leadership is about people, leadership is about maximizing the performance of each person on the team.

Re: The Ultimate Sales Goal Is Connecting to Buyer’s Value Drivers — NOT Creating Value

davebrock — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 08:55:54 -0000

Leanne: I want to avoid going down a path of parsing words so specifically, but I think your comments actually prove the point of the sales person's ability to create value.

The research on the customer doing 40-60% of the research prior to to buying can be very misleading. We assume the customer knows what to research, they know the right questions, they know how to evaluate the information they get. But customers are not experts in most of these complex B2B solutions. So these assumptions are very dangerous. The sales person creates significant value in helping the customer think about those issues in a different way or makes them aware of things they should be considering. Many of these ideas may not have "existed" in the customer's mind, so the customer is creating value by bringing that into existence for the customer.

What about the other 60-40% of the buying process. These are other areas where great sales people are creating value. For example, the web research gives the customer the basic knowledge about a solution, but doesn't translate that into specific "what does it mean for me." This "last mile" problem is a critical area on which the sales person creates value. Since each situation and customer is unique, the sales person leads the customer through a process of creating something that didn't exist before.

Your CD/MP3 example is a perfect example of a sales person creating value, enabling you to create more value for your customer. The MP3 did not exist for you---again we have to look at the contextual element of existence. The sales person created value by making you aware of alternatives that might better serve you. While your profitability may not have changed, there are other dimensions to value which the sales person was tapping into. The fact that you might better serve your client by offering a different and more preferable format.

If we are going to serve our customers best, we have to look at value in the very broadest contexts. And sales people do, actually create value.

Re: The Ultimate Sales Goal Is Connecting to Buyer’s Value Drivers — NOT Creating Value

davebrock — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 11:31:46 -0000

My pleasure Leanne. This is an important discussion--one which too many sales/business professionals don't get and which limits our abilities to connect with and engage customers.

Re: The Ultimate Sales Goal Is Connecting to Buyer’s Value Drivers — NOT Creating Value

davebrock — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 11:30:47 -0000

Great points Leanne! Let me address a couple, and you’ve stimulated ideas for follow on posts.

First, both of us are really talking about serving our customers, helping them improve and address new opportunities.

I like your definition of create–bringing something into existence that did not exist before. Everyday, we see new products, new applications of products, new methods etc. Educating our customers about these helping the customers understand how they might leverage these to grow and improve fits the literal sense of your definition of creation and our ability to create value for customers.

I also believe an aspect of this is awareness. So much of what challenges our customers is simply the lack of awareness. The lack of awareness of problems or missed opportunities, the lack of awareness of new ways of doing things, and so forth. In the context of customers, making them aware of something that already exists, but they don’t know is value creation.

Our greatest abilities to serve and create value for our customers is not just in helping them solve problems they already know about, but help in helping them discover and learn new things, to grow and improve in ways they never imagined. I believe this is the core of value creation. In serving our customers it’s our obligation to help them in these areas.

Re: The Importance of Sales Coaching: Lessons from Author David Brock

davebrock — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 17:41:44 -0000

PJ: Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts!

Re: The Ultimate Sales Goal Is Connecting to Buyer’s Value Drivers — NOT Creating Value

davebrock — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 11:33:38 -0000

This is an outstanding post, Leanne's done a great job in helping us refocus on understanding what customers value (value drivers) and focusing on how we help the customer in those areas. This is the foundation to success in customer buying cycles. Too often, we don't recognize that value is defined by the customer, not what we think.

Having said that, and hoping I'm not wordsmithing, I couldn't disagree more about sales ability to "create value."

This article focuses on customers that recognize the need to change and have embarked on a change initiative. But there are far more customers who don't realize they should/must change, there are opportunities they are missing, there are areas where they can improve. It's our responsibility to help educate customers, help them identify ways to grow, improve, even bring sanity to their lives. This is value we create for the customer.

In complex decisions, the majority of customer efforts fail. Data shows as many as 60% of buying initiatives end in no decision made. This means, the customer still has a problem or opportunity, but they have failed to solve it. Research shows it has little to do with the selection of a solution, but more on the ability of the customer buying team to align their priorities and objectives to make a decision. Sales people play a critical role in helping customers with this process--helping them make a decision, hopefully for the sales person. This is value creation.

In these days of customer research and self education, customers will inherently focus on the things they "value." But what if they are missing important considerations--after all, they unless they are buying in this category every day, they may not know what they don't know. Consequently, they may be doing something very wrong, or be missing opportunities. Sales people educating customers on these issues is value creation.

If sales people are doing what they should be doing, focusing on customer problems and opportunities, rather than pushing products, they should be expert at doing that. Because of their expertise, they may in fact know better than the customer.

Value creation is not limited to bringing something into existence (though I believe that is a huge element of value creation---new business processes, new technologies, new methods). Value creation is also about bringing things into awareness for the customer.

We limit ourselves and how we serve our customers by not doing everything possible to help customer reocgnize and realize value.

Re: How To Survive As A Sales Manager [Interview]

davebrock — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:46:47 -0000

Dan: Thanks so much, I had huge fun in this discussion!