Search Results
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Sales Best Practices – Or Are They?
- May 30, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Explain why so many companies have so many salespeople like George. And why do so few companies have so few salespeople like Charlie? If we know which one possesses true sales best practices, then why aren’t we hiring and developing more Charlies?
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Jon Lester No-Hitter Like Sale of a Lifetime?
- May 20, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Tonight, Jon Lester, of the Boston Red Sox, pitched a no-hitter. It was the first no-hitter by a Red Sox left-handed pitcher in more than 30 years. It was the second no-hitter by a young, promising Red Sox pitcher in eight months. I attempted to find the probability of pitching a no-hitter but all I could find was a scientifc formula that one would have to understand in order to get the answer. So I took another route, estimating that there are approximately 3820 games played per season and, maybe 1 or 2 no-hitters per year. So that would make the odds of hurling one about 1 in 1900 or a mere .05% chance.
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May 11 Came Early – What Else Can We Change?
- April 24, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
One of the things I pay attention to is the day each year that leaves appear on the trees. In Central Massachusetts, where I live, it usually occurs right around May 11. This year, thanks to some unusually prolonged warm weather, the buds have popped, the fruit trees have flowered and there are leaves appearing on the trees. They’re not full-size yet but will be in a matter of days. May 11 came early.
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Selling the Dream – 3 Lessons for the Sales Force
- March 24, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When a company, vendor, provider, salesperson, sales manager or business leader exceeds your expectations, you will tell somebody, try to get them excited and create buzz.
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Developing Salespeople – a Hidden Finding
- November 14, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When salespeople are thinking about what they need to do rather than just doing it (think golf lessons, tennis lessons, skiing lessons, etc. and how they affect your game), they will be emotionally involved – even when they are supposedly getting better in every other area.
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Curt Schilling’s Contract Has Implications for the Sales Force
- November 8, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you follow baseball you probably heard that Curt Schilling’s new contract for next year includes $2 million for meeting weight incentives. For $2 million even I could be motivated to lose 20 pounds! And therein lies the deeper message.
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Golf Nuts and Commitment to Sales Success
- October 10, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Based on my research data of more than 300,000 salespeople, it’s evident that no more than 6% of the sales population is so motivated as to get coached, attend seminars, watch videos, read books and practice every day.
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Another Connection Between Sales and Baseball
- September 7, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You have to make sure your salespeople are prepared for those situations. Do you coach them so that when the opportunity presents itself they’re able to capitalize on it? That’s the essence of your role as their sales manager!
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Misleading Sales Numbers Part 2
- June 15, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Big numbers don’t impress me. How come the salesperson who always reports 40 dials, 10 conversations and 3 appointments never seems to have any meetings and never seems to be adding anything to the pipeline?
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Selling Processes are Dead Part II
- April 18, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
First, before you read on, you’ll need to read this post.
Next you’ll need to read Geoffrey James rebuttal post.
I apologize to Geoffrey James for making the assumption that he is not an expert on the subject of sales. My research failed to turn up anything other than his blog and I’m very sorry that I did not conduct a more thorough research effort.