Dave Kurlan
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Hydrangeas Tell the Story of Underperforming Salespeople
- September 13, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You don’t have to stand by, throw your hands in the air, become frustrated and use hope as your strategy. When did hope even become a strategy? You don’t need to terminate these underperforming salespeople and replace them with new salespeople who might not get it done. Take matters into your own hands, get the help you need to actually develop your salespeople.
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Expectations, Revisions, and Excuses on the Sales Team
- September 9, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Nothing frustrates a CEO more than when the monthly numbers are not met. The government is doing it too. We saw the goal posts being moved almost daily during the pandemic. The news tells us what to expect for the monthly, quarterly and annual reports on Cost of Living, Inflation, Interest Rates, Illegal Immigration, and Jobs. Then the “actual” numbers are reported, followed by huge revisions to what was reported a few months later.
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20 Ways Salespeople Waste Time and Lose Money
- August 31, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was thinking about how salespeople chase their tails and waste time that could be better utilized on actual selling activities. Here are the first twenty time-wasting tail-chasing things that came to mind and they all reflect some degree of lack of commitment, lack of discipline, lack of consistency and excuse making:
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Steam Vent Hack That Salespeople Can Use on Stalled Opportunities
- August 23, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The guide simply lit a cigarette, lowered it slightly into the vent, it reacted with the air and the steam, and significantly increased the output of steam. A super simple hack that instantly causes a performance improvement gets your attention!
Of course, that got me thinking about a simple hack that will significantly improve sales performance and I present one to you in this article.
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Hiring Salespeople – How Deadpool Would Fare as a Sales Candidate
- August 16, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Hiring salespeople doesn’t have to be complicated but most companies get the entire process wrong from expectations, to job description, specs, job posting, vetting, phone interview, first interview, final interview, selection and on-boarding. The companies we help attract more candidates, better quality candidates, conduct fewer interviews, have significantly less turnover, and new salespeople producing out of the gate. We could probably help you too, but you must want the help. That means getting your ego out of the way, embracing a different way to hire salespeople, paying for the help, and being more patient than before. If you are willing to do that, you can be a big winner and build a kick-ass sales team.
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Is Sales Today Nothing More than its Tech Stack?
- August 9, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you are on the sales team in any function, focus on selling and ignore the noise and distractions of anything that isn’t directly helping you develop your skills to book more meetings, improve your ability to reach decision makers, build relationships and trust, take a consultative approach, sell value, qualify and close business.
To everything else simply say “fuck off.”
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The Biggest Mistake That Salespeople Make When Closing
- July 31, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Aggressive salespeople are no more effective than passive salespeople but if I had to choose one over the other I would take my chances with the aggressive salesperson and attempt to get them to tone it down. While the challenges with passive salespeople are obvious, there is one mistake I consistently observe being made by aggressive salespeople and wouldn’t you know it, the salesperson approached us and made the mistake. That made me want to sit in a messaging recliner to get the stress out.
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How Practice Can Increase Sales and Commissions by 33%
- July 9, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Uncategorized, Understanding the Sales Force
According to data from more than 2.5 million salespeople assessed by Objective Management Group (OMG), only 72% of all salespeople are committed to their sales success and if we look at the largest population – the weakest 50% – only a little more than half of that group are committed. Why would they practice?
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Is Fred a Top Salesperson or a Horrible Imposter?
- July 2, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Fred’s sales manager sees both sides. He told me that Fred is an imposter and the OMG evaluation perfectly described his sales capabilities. So yes, Fred is both a top salesperson and a horrible imposter.
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How to Prepare for the Big Sales Presentation
- June 24, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The goal of the big presentation, as with the debate, is to differentiate, but that requires knowing your competition’s strengths and weaknesses and being able to point out those where you are superior. Assuming that your price will be higher, you must represent its value and it must be that value that stands out above and beyond everything else. How can you be the value?