Search Results

  • Leading a Sales Force is Even More Like Baseball

    • November 6, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I’ve written plenty about the similarity betwen baseball and selling, but today I’m writing about the similarity between baseball and sales leadership.  If you’re not a baseball person, you might not see the same things that I see, most of which can be applied to leading a sales force.  For example,

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  • Baseball, Sales Cycles, and the Quest for Shorter

    • September 23, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    In selling, there are even more options for shortening the sales cycle.  They include:

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  • Sales Lessons from Baseball’s 2013 World Series

    • October 29, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Instead of bad or wrong calls and decisions, I believe that it’s critical to frame decisions that don’t go our way as tough decisions rather than bad or wrong decisions.  “Bad” is a judgment and leads to debate, while “tough” forces us to move on to lessons learned and action steps.  It is far more productive.

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  • Baseball and Selling Revisited – A Powerful Analogy

    • June 12, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    A salesperson tells you about a great-looking opportunity that has been forecast to close this month.  “We’re definitely getting this and it’s an awesome opportunity for us.  We’re going to knock this one out of the park!”

    At the end of the month, the deal hasn’t closed and you question your salesperson about it.  You are told that the decision-maker has been away on vacation, but as soon as he returns, the deal is sure to get done.

    A month later, nothing has changed.  This time, the salesperson admits that he has had a little difficulty reaching the decision-maker, but he is sure that nothing has changed.  You are assured that everything is good.

    Six months later, when the deal still hasn’t closed, you force the salesperson to archive the opportunity with the salesperson still not understanding what went wrong.

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  • Baseball’s Huge Impact on Sales Performance

    • January 22, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Let’s use Algebra to get a better handle on sales methodology and where it fits in the grand scheme of things.  Consider the following formula:

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  • Sales Coaching Lessons from the Baseball Files

    • May 24, 2012
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    This sequence of analysis and tweaking works in exactly the same way when coaching salespeople.  You should be able to immediately identify what went wrong, when it went wrong, how it went wrong and demonstrate how to prevent and fix it.  The last two steps must take place through role-play.  Are you doing that effectively?

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  • When it Comes to Compensation Sales is Not Like Baseball

    • December 9, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The other day a client asked whether salespeople can make the jump from earning $85K to a position that could pay them $150K. 

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  • Sales Coaching is Like Baseball – How do You Rate?

    • August 3, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Where are you when it comes to the all important topic of Sales Coaching?

    I’m in the middle of training several sales management teams on the finer points of coaching.

    What’s always fascinating for me is the transition that these teams go through on their way from point A to point B.

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  • Baseball’s General Managers versus Business’ Sales Managers

    • March 30, 2010
    • Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The 2010 Major League Baseball season officially gets underway this Sunday evening with its greatest rivalry, the Boston Red Sox versus the New York Yankees, at Fenway Park. It gives me a great excuse to write a baseball themed article. But hey, what else would you expect from the author of Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball?

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  • Sales and Customer Service are Just Like Steriod Use in Baseball

    • February 11, 2009
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Sales is just like Steroid use in Baseball.

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