Bunes & Ferenczi

At Bunes & Ferenczi we believe in today’s uncertain and ever-changing environment there is a smarter and faster way for B2B Tech companies to acquire new customers than only by increasing sales capacity​.

We work with early-stage companies, companies looking to geographically expand, or someone looking to expand their solution portfolio to:
* Co-create their Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) in which their value creation is the highest
* Build a Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) which is prioritized order of all the ICPs
* Audit and recommend data/analytics tools for sales and marketing to support the acquisition of customers
* Provide interim CMO/CRO support for expansion

| Co-founder |  B2B Tech Growth Strategist | 

GrowthMentor

I am grateful for the opportunity to support NEXT GEN entrepreneurs with some of my experience through specific conversations about their challenges. The best part of this? I learn so much myself every time,

Growth Mentor

GlobalGrowth Consulting (GG Consulting AB)

Experienced hands-on business executive with strong focus on teamwork and managing multi-cultural teams thrives at driving global or local growth or profitability-focused change initiatives

AREAS OF EXPERTISE
* Development and advice on Sales and Marking programmes, Business Strategy and Planning
* Design and implementation of organisational change including providing interim management  
* Deep industrial knowledge of IT and telecoms, both B2B and B2C
* Set up and management of new international businesses including creation of company structures

| Principal Consultant | Business Owner |

Bisnode

Advising Bisnode B2B Marketing Steering council with GTM plans for new offers.

B2B Sales and Marketing GTM Advisor

Vendemore

Enabling global companies to implement Account Based Marketing as a part of their marketing mix.

Developing internal sales and marketing strategies at Vendemore.

Global Account Director

GlobalGrowth Consulting & Investment LLC

Vision: 
Grow local small businesses to International medium-sized businesses

We are: 
Senior practicioners with experience from both small businesses to  Fortune 20, including experience in sales, marketing, business development, business management, and Management Consulting.  Proven track record of developing international businesses

Our approach: 
Focus on technology firms (Internet, SW, and HW) with base in Scandinavia looking for international expansion or businesses looking to expand to Scandinavia. We look for 1-4 year exclusive partnerships focusing on profitable new business. Our model can be tailored to each engagement. In some cases, we may make a significant investment in the business. However, we exclusively engage in businesses with a buy-out plan

Founder, Majority Partner, and Chairman

Libendo Education

Member of Board for holding company in Luxemburg (Avaros SA)

Member of Board

Managing the Libendo Group business across all markets

Managing Director

Member of Board Libendo Norway AS

Member of Board Libendo UK&I Ltd (Dormant)

Member of Board Libendo Sweden AB

Driving the expansion of Libendo from Sweden to UK and Norway.  In charge of all expansion work in addition to hosting the management structure, business planning, and overall sales results for the business

Global Sales Director

SPConsulting

Consultant in Change Management Practise at SPConsulting: Boutique global consulting firm based in Stockholm, Sweden

Consultant

Build HP's Direct Online sales in EMEA; employee number 1

Our team took an existing business from $35m to $105m over two years.

Consumer Online Business Development Manager EMEA

Managed a product line E2E, turning around $5m loss to $3m in profit in two years and order book grew by 30%.

Member of management board, and numerous project steering committee chairman roles as well as sponsor.

Business Line Manager EMEA

Provided country representation to EMEA based organisation for support experience and delivery models. Included business development of support services (fee based). Also included deployment of retail channel support programmes.

Consumer Support Country Manager Nordics

European Product Manager for the HP ScanJet line of products. Core focus on all 4 Ps

Product Manager EMEA

Provided final level support for WW contact centres for HP ScanJet products. Would drive current engineering for updates of current products and ensure fixes were transferred to the development of next generation products.

Escalation Manager

I help B2B Tech companies to grow by focusing on the right customers.

I am passionate about B2B tech, but more passionate about the customer value deriving from deploying the right technology. 

It’s always about the customer, and it’s always about the value they get from technology.

The rest are just means to an end.

I am your international businessman of mystery! 

I have lived and worked in Norway, US, Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden.

I am like the business equivalent of the Swiss Army knife, a utility you can use to solve many a challenge. 

I have done sales, marketing, financial management, management consulting, P&L ownership, product management, customer support/operations, escalation management, Account Based Marketing, EdTech, AdTech, MarTech, B2B, B2C, B2B2C. You name it, I have done it!

I have worked for myself, in an organization with four people, in an organization with +300,000 employees and anything in between.

Hans Bunes

David Brock

We help organizations and individuals achieve profound improvements in their ability to achieve their goals.  Focusing on the customer facing side of the organization, we work with sales and marketing organizations to effectively and efficiently reach their customers---OutPerforming and OutSelling their competition.

We are recognized experts in sales productivity/effectiveness, channel development, strategic alliances/partnering, value proposition development, leadership and business strategy.

We have a global consulting practice, supporting clients and individuals in every continent.  Our experience spans many industries, including technology industries (IT hardware, software, services, telecom, semiconductor, electronic components, scientific instrumentation, data acquisition, process control), industrial products, basic materials, financial and professional services, consumer products, retail, not for profit and other sectors.

We work with Global 50 through early stage companies, around the world.

We provide coaching and mentoring to individuals ranging from CEO through individual contributors.

Our work is published in many magazines and blogs.  We speak widely in conferences and with individual companies.

Specialties: Maximizing the productivity, impact and effectiveness of sales professionals.
Strategy development and execution on Routes To Market/Channels.
Development and implementation of Strategic Partnerships and Alliances.
Developing and communicating differentiated value propositions.
New product introductions and launches.
Development and execution of high impact business strategies.
Leadership development, coaching and mentoring.
Market strategy, segmentation and research.

Author of the Sales Manager Survival Guide.  Called "THE Go-To resource for sales managers."


Founder/CEO

Partners In EXCELLENCE helps its clients OutPerform and OutSell their competitors.  We are a global consulting company focused on business strategy development, M&A integration, strategic partnering, turnarounds, and sales excellence.  Our clients represent global 500 technology, industrial, telecom, professional services leaders; as well as high growth technology start-ups.

Starting something, new.  Making a big change.  Reframing what's important to you.  All of these things are challenging.  They represent Pivotal Moments.

And the Pivotal Moments make all the difference.  We learn, we grow, we change.  We discover new possibilities!

I'm excited to have my copy of Jill Konrath's fantastic new book Pivotal Moments.  It's a must read!

Author "Sales Manager Survival Guide,"​ CEO at Partners In EXCELLENCE, Ruthless Pragmatist

When performance problems aren't obvious---yet!

A CEO told me recently, "We're hitting plan. Retention is solid. The team seems engaged. But I have this feeling we're leaving a lot on the table. When I raise it, people look at me like I'm crazy."

She's not crazy. She's seeing something the metrics don't show.

The most complex performance problems aren't the obvious ones. No fires. No underperformer to coach. No metric screaming for attention. Just a nagging sense you could do more.

Two blind spots create this decline:

Blind Spot 1: Success masks under-performance. Hitting goals doesn't mean you're performing well. It may mean your goals are too low. 

The team is making quota with 20% win rate. 

The team is delivering "acceptable" results while competitors pull ahead. We measure against targets, not potential. So "success" provides cover for coasting.

Blind Spot 2: Standards are quietly lowering. Standards don't collapse. They erode—one small step at a time. 

The preparation that used to be thorough is now adequate. Each adjustment seems reasonable. Winging it because we have so much experience. 

We focus on efficiency, but not effectiveness and impact.

But a 1% daily decline compounds to nearly zero by year's end.

These two blindspots feed and reinforce each other. 

When you stop measuring against potential, you lose the reference point that reveals slipping standards. 

When standards slide, but you are still "succeeding" against them. Each cycle lowers our expectations.

The warning signs for leaders:

Consistent "just good enough" performance.

Declining win rates, renewals, and retention that always have an excuse.

Less preparation, less curiosity, less initiative.

Your best performers are getting frustrated, realizing they could do more and leave.

Your own reluctance to push people who are "doing fine."

The warning signs for individuals: 

That vague dissatisfaction you can't name.  

Work feels routine, you aren't pushing yourself, you are busy, but bored.

Knowing you could do more, but not feeling compelled to.

Comparing your performance to quota rather than capability.

Breaking this cycle: 

Measure against capability, not just targets. 

For leaders, that means awkward conversations.  Helping someone recognize that even though they are hitting their numbers, they could achieve more.

For leaders, it means raising your own aspirations, exploring how you and your team can achieve more.

For individuals, it means honest self-assessment against potential, not minimum acceptable standards.  If you are making the numbers, but "phoning it in," you can do so much more.

The performance problems that hurt most aren't the obvious ones: bad strategy, poor execution, or poor performers.  These are easy to address.  

The tough ones are those hiding behind acceptable results.

The question isn't whether you're succeeding against current targets. 

It's whether those targets reflect what you and your team are actually capable of.

I was talking with a CEO recently. Her company was hitting plan. Customer retention was solid. The team seemed engaged. By every measure that matters,

Open article: When Performance Problems Aren't Obvious---Yet! by David Brock • 6 min read

When Performance Problems Aren't Obvious---Yet!

Nobody wants to be mediocre, but why do so many settle for it?

Ask any salesperson if they want to hit the President’s Club. Do they want to be the top earner?  Do they want the top job? The answer is always, "ABSOLUTELY!"

Leaders are the same; they want the top-performing team, recognition, and potential promotion.  They want their organization to be the envy of the industry.

But desire is cheap. Nobody wants to be mediocre, yet so many settle for it. 

Why?

Because we fall in love with the result, but we despise the process. We want the outcome without the grind.

We chase the "easy path," the hacks, the shortcuts, the guru’s playbook, the AI prompts.  We ignore the years of failure and adaptation that actually built their success.

Mark Manson suggests the most important question of our lives isn’t: "What do you want?" but "What are you willing to struggle for?"

If you want to kill mediocrity, you must look at the gap between what you want and the struggle required to get it:

Sellers want the income of a top performer. The struggle, however, is the rejection of rigorous prospecting. The tedium of deep research. The discipline to stop pitching and start truly understanding the customer.

Leaders want the recognition and the high-performing team. The struggle: The discomfort of difficult conversations. The patience required for genuine coaching. The exhausting discipline of modeling excellence every single hour of the day.

If you look at that list and think, "That’s too much work," you have chosen mediocrity.

The reality is that mediocrity is the harder path.

It requires effort to show up and do the bare minimum. You still have to work. But you do it while carrying the heavy mental weight of knowing you are underperforming. You carry the regret of potential left on the table.
Failure is harder than succeeding.

So, stop asking yourself what you want. Ask yourself: What am I willing to struggle for?
https://lnkd.in/gtiPs3Bs

My good friend Mary Strain looks at how we use AI in looking at my book, Is "Good Enough" Good Enough, Mindsets and Behaviors for Sales Excellence.  Thanks so much Mary!

AI and Machine Learning Strategy Leader: Helping organizations adopt innovative technologies to transform business: AI/ML, Blockchain, and Big Data

What better way to spend a snowy Sunday in Philadelphia than immersing myself in excellence - with my friend and sage @DavidBrock ‘s new book! My favorite quote “#AI leads to a fork in the road.  One path leads to excellence amplified. The other leads to mediocrity at scale”.  Thank you, Dave!

Are we providing Customer Service or Lip Service?

Every company says customer experience is their number one priority.

Their customers know better.

If you have a subscription model, customer service is vital to retention, renewal, and expansion. If customers can't get help, they won't get value, and they will leave.

If you want to sell more to your customers, and they've had a bad experience, they're highly unlikely to want to do more business with you.

And customers talk to each other. Bad experiences spread. "I was talking to Bill about XYZ's products. He says their support is terrible and he's doing everything he can to switch vendors..."

Yet over the years, I've watched customer service plummet. Everyone I talk to echoes this. You'd think technology and AI would make it better. It's made it worse.

The support page? Buried. When you find it, you search for your specific problem and get 1,527 documents. Somehow my question is never a FAQ, though I suspect others have gone through the same thing.  None of the responses are relevant.

The chatbot embedded in the lower left corner of their support page? It ignores your question and asks, "Is your problem A, B, C, D, or something else?" You say "something else," it asks the same question again: "Is your problem A, B, C, D, or something else?"

The human agent? Ten-minute wait. They can't see your chatbot conversation. You start over. You type your problem. You wait. Three and a half minutes between each response in the conversation. 

For complex problems, you just give up.

The phone? Good luck finding the number. Then the menu tree, "Press 1 if you have this, Press 2....."  Then the queue. "Your current wait time is 375 hours and 15 minutes."OK.  I'm exaggerating. Not by much.

My worst recent experience: Evernote I can't sign into my account. The only way to reach support? Sign into your account. But I can't sign into my account, so I can't get help.  A Catch 22.

I finally found a way to get help, but they are forcing me to upgrade, a 55% increase, annual plan only. They're holding my data for ransom.

What we experience isn't customer service. It's performative empathy.

Here's the irony. My go-to for customer support now? LLMs. I describe my problem, and they help me navigate to a solution. It works. These companies have outsourced their customer relationships to third parties and don't even realize it.

They say customer experience is their number one priority.

Their customers know better. And their customers talk to each other.
https://lnkd.in/gBRKJYrv

Tobia La Marca Tobia La Marca said something fascinating: "Protect Your Focus."

It's ironic that as I write this, I'm jumping between this article, an email that just arrived, a meeting in an hour, and alerts creeping up on LinkedIn.

We all suffer from this inability to focus. Our devices create massive distractions. Our own minds cause us to drift from topic to topic.

We feel like we're accomplishing things. We clear emails. We respond to texts. We tick through meetings robotically. All of this gives us a sense of accomplishment, while what we're actually doing is going through the motions.

We are all crazy busy, but that busyness is just an illusion.

Being busy is not the same as being effective. Making calls is not the same as creating value. Attending meetings is not the same as driving outcomes.
We've confused activity with achievement, motion with progress.

Most of us operate in perpetual react-respond mode. Something comes in, we deal with it. Another thing comes in, we deal with that. We're like pinballs, bouncing from one demand to the next. And the important work we needed to do gets pushed back.

We never ask: What's most important and impactful right now?

We let urgency override importance. The loudest demand gets our attention. We end each day exhausted, wondering why nothing meaningful got accomplished. The important work: thinking, planning, coaching our people, keeps getting pushed to later.

"Shit We Have to Stop!"

One of my most powerful workshops is called "Shit We Have to Stop!"

Before you can protect your focus, you have to decide what to stop doing.
We work in "pile-on" mode. New priorities added. New initiatives launched. But nothing comes off the list. We keep adding until we're buried.

The discipline of focus isn't just about what you choose to do. It's about what you choose to stop.

What meetings should you stop attending? What reports should you stop creating? What responsibilities have you accumulated that shouldn't be yours?
Don't add anything new until you've first stopped something else.

This isn’t just an issue for individuals.

Organizations fragment attention systematically, usually without realizing it. The cause? Poorly defined roles and responsibilities.

When accountability is unclear: People do work others should own. Redundant work multiplies. Important things fall through the cracks. All three destroy focus.

Focus is a choice.

Every notification, every alert, every interruption gives you a choice. React-respond, or exercise discipline.

It takes 23 minutes to refocus after an interruption. Four interruptions in a morning? You've lost 90 minutes to recovery time.  How many times are you interrupted?

Discipline trumps motivation. Focus requires systems, habits, and accountability.

Our focus needs protecting. If we don't protect it, no one else will.

(If you are interested in our “Shit We Have to Stop” workshop, reach out to me.)
 https://lnkd.in/gaXmFXau

Lori Richardson and her team are leading one of the most important Sales Excellence initiatives I've ever seen.  I've signed up!  Make sure you attend this important event.

#1 Authority on What CEOs Need to Know About Sales | Host of Sales Talk for CEOs 🎙 | I Help CEOs Elevate Sales to Increase Valuation | Skier⛷️ Sailor ⛵️ former soccer player ⚽ | Yes, Miller Heiman

Do you have someone to look up to?

Do you have a mentor?

Do you have a team of people around you that inspire you to do your best as they do theirs?

Do you have at least one person who looks like you excelling at the thing you want to do that you can look to as a role model?

Most CEOs and leaders I know do not have the support they need, especially the female leaders. 

It's important to have a great team around you and all the resources you need but what happens when you don't?

Can you still excel?

Imagine being a woman in sales in the 80s (if you are old enough 😆) 

I was teaching then but things hadn't changed much by the time I was selling  in the 90s. 

We dressed liked men. 

Made sure our pitch wasn't too high when speaking. 

Had to dodge propositions constantly. 

Had to be strong but not too strong. 

We endured being called things like "Little Lady" and worse. 

We had to prove ourselves over and above what any man had to do. 

Sometimes we were the only woman on the team. 

But some progressive companies were trying to bring more women into sales and some the women we are honoring we were lucky enough to work for them and some were not. 

You can hear these stories first-hand on April 22 & 23 in Dallas at the #SalesDecadeProject event designed by Lori Richardson. There will be an awards event and day of learning and connection. 

I'll be your host and Jen Mueller will be the MC. And some of the most amazing women in sales that I have ever met will be there. 

This project that will go on before and after the event is to lift women up and welcome women into a community that will support them.

Women need to be around other women who are doing the things they want to do and can be those mentors, role models and support. 

Get your ticket now! Be an Urgent Bird, like my friend Samantha McKenna always says.  And the ticket price is the lowest it will be right now. 

You just might meet someone you can look up to, who will mentor you, who will support you.

Open article: The Sales Decades Project, Wed, Apr 22nd, 2026 @ 5:30 PM Accelevents by accelevents.com

The Sales Decades Project, Wed, Apr 22nd, 2026 @ 5:30 PM Accelevents

Fred, you had me worried with your first sentence. I was scrambling for a large fig leaf......

This was a great discussion, I love the twist you put on it!

Supporting engineering and manufacturing sales teams to win complex B2B deals using ethical, collaborative methods | 3 Bestselling Books | 10,000+ Salespeople Trained | 38 Countries | 🇬🇧 🇪🇸

Could you sell naked?

Not like that you filthy beast

And I don't mean that weird technique pervy presentation skills trainers use

I'm talking about going into a meeting with nothing

No script

No slides

No samples

So what would you do?

Ask questions

Focus on them

Be genuinely curious and dig deep

It's advice I've given for over 25 years

It still works

Could you do it?

taplio

The Battle

Hans Bunes

David Brock

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Performance ScoreDavid Brock's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Hans Bunes

David Brock

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}David Brock's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreDavid Brock's LinkedIn Performance