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Bob Sherlock
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Recent Posts
Outsider Insights | From Hustle to System: Why More CEOs Are Rebuilding Their Sales Function
Outsider Insights
Across Chief Outsiders, we talk to hundreds of CEOs every month. In this new series, we explore the trends and challenges we’re hearing from these discussions – and what you can do if you’re facing the same issues in your business.
When You’re Behind on Sales
Wed, Jun 30, 2021 — With the first half of 2021 coming to a close for companies with calendar year financial statements, there’s a topic on many business leaders’ minds. “Will we meet, beat, or miss our 2021 sales goal—and by what percentage?”
Overcoming the Limitations of Customer Surveys
Fri, May 7, 2021 — “Find out what your customers want… and don’t keep it from them.” -- Don Rice, Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M When deciding on the best moves to increase sales, finding out what customers want can be a valuable compass.
The Value of an Old Scotch
Tue, Mar 2, 2021 — This is a love story with a business point. Around twenty five years ago Gordon, the whisky-loving half of a couple in Glencoe, Scotland, bought a limited production bottle of Macallan 1961. It was pricey, so he put it away in a cabinet in its original packaging to await a suitable occasion. Then he pretty much forgot about it. He found it in 2019 and thought, "Wow, we really do need to find an occasion to drink this." A few weeks later, an old friend came to town. Gordon and the pal opened the bottle and did a few pours. The whisky’s color, nose, and taste were superb, and they savored it greatly.
Risky Business: How Marketing Content Can Take Risk Out of Business Decisions
Tue, Dec 29, 2020 — In my younger years, I loved the thrill of a challenging winter rock and ice climb. I found one at Maiden Cliff, which rises 800 feet above a lake in Maine. In late winter, sun-melted snow joins with natural seepage, freezes overnight, and creates giant icicles attached to the rock. What the sun helps to create, it also taketh away. Ice that is climbable with reasonable safety in shade can, after direct sun gets on it, soften, break away from the rock, or simply melt.
Hiding the Full Value of an Innovation
Wed, Nov 4, 2020 — “If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.” -Yogi Berra A powerful, sales-producing change that most companies can make quickly: Find messaging that is not working very well, and replace it. This is especially important when marketing an innovation.
Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Downturns
Tue, Apr 7, 2020 — Del Griffith (John Candy) and Neal Page (Steve Martin) are driving the wrong way on an Interstate highway at night. A motorist, driving in the correct lanes: “Hey, put your window down!” Page: “He wants something.” [rolls window down] Griffith: “Ah, he’s probably drunk.” Motorist and his passenger holler across the median: “You’re going the wrong way!!!” Page: “He says we’re going the wrong way.” Griffith: “Oh he’s drunk! How would he know where we’re going?” Page, nodding: “Yeahhh… how would HE know?” [Moments later, Griffith and Page narrowly escape a head-on collision with two tractor-trailers.] Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Paramount Pictures, 1987
Slam Dunks that Aren’t
Wed, Oct 30, 2019 — It might be correct to tell a basketball player that the best way he or she can score points is to dunk the ball through the hoop. Correct, that is, if the player is, say, 6’6” or taller. That advice, however, is not very useful for a player that’s 5’6”.
Did you lose a big sale to “None of the Above”?
Fri, Apr 26, 2019 — “We win 15% of the projects we propose. Our competitors also win about 15%. “With the other 70% of proposals, no one wins. The prospect doesn’t proceed with anybody.” -CEO of a technology integration company Ever heard yourself saying something like that—or heard a peer say it? The status quo is often your fiercest competitor.
Costs Spiking? The Right Price Moves can Offset the Impact
Fri, Jun 15, 2018 — Like so many of us, Phil is pressed for time. An avid mountaineer, when he prepares for a climb he wants to train just enough that he can summit and descend in a safe amount of time. He has a strategy (certain amounts of running and stair-climbing) to achieve that fitness level. Last year a back injury precluded his usual training approach. The injury didn’t mean he couldn’t prepare to perform at the required level. However, it did force him to look for alternative strategies to train.