Rich Blakeman, Miller Heiman sales vice president for the western region, has a unique business background combining sales and marketing executive leadership with consulting assignments at senior levels of global industry-leading firms. He has proven himself successful at creating organic growth and differentiation for companies through their sales strategy and its execution.
Rich's track record includes leading teams of cross-company sales leaders in developing and implementing enterprise models for strategic account management and sales effectiveness. He has advised on and personally led the deployment of sales processes and practices including compensation and incentives, benchmarking, global sales automation, value proposition development, account planning, executive sponsorship and training.
26 October 2009 |
Rich Blakeman
I spent the morning on Friday at the invitation of the ZOLL Medical global sales team, speaking to their amazing worldwide force – 375 strong.
In order to ensure value and impact for ZOLL, we did what we do. What was the leadership team trying to accomplish, fix or avoid? What unique strengths do they possess, and how can they leverage them with each buying influence in their customers’ buying processes? So many questions, so little time.
At the end of the day, the ZOLL team came away with a unanimous assessment of high value delivered. High praise coming from an audience hungry to start their year off with a bang and get a strong head start on their objectives – we followed our process, and achieved our objectives…creating value for ZOLL.
What lessons were there in the work (without giving away ZOLL’s secret sauce)?
- Unanimous affirmation for the meeting’s mantra: New Opportunities, New Approaches. Affirmed in parallel to one of our shared basic principles: “Whatever it was that got you where you are today is not sufficient to keep you there.”
- Concurrence across business units and around the world that there are three things that you should always know about your customers:
- Why have they chosen to do business with you?
- What are you helping them accomplish, fix, or avoid?
- Do you have senior contacts within your accounts who understand why your company can uniquely service them?
- A reminder of what it takes to land an airplane in the Hudson River and have 155 survivors: By the book…follow your process…don’t fly by the seat of your pants.
- Complete agreement on what it takes to overcome the fear of calling higher and out of your comfort zone.
- Common definitions for otherwise fuzzy concepts that are critical to ZOLL success – value proposition, differentiation, business results and personal wins.
And finally the lessons taught by seagulls, pelicans, Nemo’s dad, Dora, and Herb Brooks – but that’s a story for another day.
Want to know more? Call someone from the ZOLL sales team. They’ll be glad to help.
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Rich Blakeman, Miller Heiman sales vice president for the western region, has a unique business background combining sales and marketing executive leadership with consulting assignments at senior levels of global industry-leading firms. He has proven himself successful at creating organic growth and differentiation for companies through their sales strategy and its execution.
Rich's track record includes leading teams of cross-company sales leaders in developing and implementing enterprise models for strategic account management and sales effectiveness. He has advised on and personally led the deployment of sales processes and practices including compensation and incentives, benchmarking, global sales automation, value proposition development, account planning, executive sponsorship and training.
20 October 2009 |
Rich Blakeman
Fifty sales leaders spent the day together with us on the 36th floor in the financial district today. I’ll avoid all of the typical comments about sales leaders with their heads in the clouds…or the rainbow that arrived in the afternoon, appropriate to those who chase pots of gold.
Neither could be farther from the truth.
We engaged together, learned together, worked together and enjoyed each other’s company and shared intellect. Presentations by some of the brightest sales leadership minds who are making things happen NOW – not talking about what got us here, but instead sharing the things that work, taking action and working NOW.
Speakers from JDSU…Oakwood…The Sales Executive Council. Best practices, and models that work. Thoughtful and provocative, clear, concise and vivid.
The day opened by our CEO, Sam Reese, and closed by our founder and Dutch Uncle, Bob Miller. Great bookends for some of the best conversations a sales leader could listen in on, much less participate in. While the formal reviews aren’t yet in, the informal reviews during happy hour (featuring wonderful flavors from our Sales Makeover client, Torani) were broad and deep. A day well spent, with takeaways for all to leverage NOW.
If you have an opportunity to attend any of our upcoming Client Summit gatherings, I didn’t meet an executive today who wouldn’t urge you to invest the time. Results NOW.
Rainbows are extra.
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Rich Blakeman, Miller Heiman sales vice president for the western region, has a unique business background combining sales and marketing executive leadership with consulting assignments at senior levels of global industry-leading firms. He has proven himself successful at creating organic growth and differentiation for companies through their sales strategy and its execution.
Rich's track record includes leading teams of cross-company sales leaders in developing and implementing enterprise models for strategic account management and sales effectiveness. He has advised on and personally led the deployment of sales processes and practices including compensation and incentives, benchmarking, global sales automation, value proposition development, account planning, executive sponsorship and training.
16 July 2009 |
Rich Blakeman
Not a question I often pose to people — it’s often quite clear why someone is where they are.
But Tuesday morning at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, those were the first words out of my mouth in front of the group assembled to hear me “speak” (more about that in a minute). In downtown San Francisco on a gorgeous Bay Area summer morning, these sales professionals had given up over two hours of their time (plus commute) and cash out of pocket.
It’s a relevant question.
The answers were equally relevant, and equally interesting. Some of them will be captured in another post — but the striking thing to me was the similarity and the symmetry: everyone wanted to get better at what they do, and was willing to invest in order to achieve that goal.
Now “listening” to me isn’t any guarantee. But just as I asked them to jump in and get working right from the start, everyone was equally engaged in sharing their own successes and challenges with the group. They were willing to “give” in order to get. Some of the best ideas came from their examples, as they always do. If we want to get better, emulating the best practices of the most successful of others in our field is always a great start.
Why are you here?
Why take the time to read a blog entry? What drove you here, and what do you hope to take away?
For my part I’ll assume the same motive. We all want to get better at what we do. Sales has evolved to being a team sport, and we want to improve our position on the team as well as improve the performance of the team overall. The message of the day in San Francisco kept ringing over and over: the judge of performance, and the judge of results, is the customer.
That’s why I’m here.
It may sound altruistic, but I’m here for the customer. I’m here for the customer’s success: for them making their numbers, and beating their competition. If I do that successfully, I’ll make my numbers every year — and I won’t have any competition.
Why are you here?
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