Search Results

  • Grow Revenue During a Recession by Being Counter-Intuitive

    • May 10, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Declining Revenue

    We know what doesn’t work in a recession. 

    The economic crisis of 2008-9, and the Covid lockdowns of 2020-2021 showed us that when companies focus on cost-cutting instead of growing revenue, revenue declines – sharply.  Who would have guessed that smart people wouldn’t see that coming?

    You know what to do when dry weather conditions aren’t favorable for growing trees, flowers, and shrubs. You don’t pull the plants out of the ground or let them succumb to the dry conditions.  You add water. It’s a very simple concept.

    Can companies add water to grow revenue when the economic conditions are evaporating?  Yes, but it’s counter-intuitive.

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  • The Philosophy of the Red Sox and Gallop Will Lead to Increased Revenue

    • March 30, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    opening day

    Leadership believed they were very good at doing these things. However, everything is relative. The key question is, good compared to who? 

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  • Snowstorm & Weather Apps Explain Why 75% of Sales Forecasts are Wrong

    • March 16, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    As a Nor’Easter barreled across Central Massachusetts today, a few interesting storm-related happenings were analogous to some sales-related occurrences. This article will explore two weather-related analogies:

    It’s in 3D – Dinger the Dog and his choice of Doors
    The Magic of Weather Apps

    I’ve written about Dinger, our six-year-old Golden Doodle, several times.  The most popular article was when I claimed and proved that Dinger’s listening skills were better than those of salespeople. 

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  • What If Pay Equity Comes to Sales Teams?

    • February 28, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    When pay equity comes to sales teams, top performers will be the group that is most affected.  While it is too early to know whether their incomes will be reduced, they will be compensated equally with the worst performers on the team. If you are a top performer, and you are no longer earning significantly more than the worst performers in the company, what would you do?  Here are some possibilities:

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  • These 6 Keys and New Data Help Your Sales Team Outperform The Rest

    • February 16, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    They found that top performers make 54% more switches – the back and forth in conversations – than everyone else and 78% more in their presentations.  The presentations made by top sales performers are not monologues!

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  • The Difference Between Sales Competencies, Sales Capabilities and Sales Outcomes

    • February 14, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    If you watched Super Bowl 57, you observed two teams that simply refused to give up or give in.  Sometimes, that’s the feeling I get when I’m writing articles and I have solid data on my side, while dozens of competing authors just won’t stop their constant barrage of articles using junk science, anecdotal evidence, and alternate facts.

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  • Made Up Sales Statistics and Their Contrast to Real Data

    • February 2, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    A sales consultant who knows that I geek out on sales data read that 84% of salespeople suck because they don’t enjoy what they do.  A huge percentage of salespeople do actually suck but the actual number is closer to 75%.  Is it really because they don’t enjoy selling?

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  • This Company’s Best Salesperson was 2500% Stronger Than Their Worst

    • February 1, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    It’s been four months since the baseball season ended but college baseball begins in less than 4 weeks and it will be fun to watch our son play for his college team (while freezing our asses off!).  It’s also been a while since the last time I shared a top/bottom analysis but I completed one this week that I had to share.

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  • The Wall Street Journal Shares News About What it Takes to Succeed in Sales

    • November 14, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I’m not anti-Wall Street Journal – at least I wasn’t.  I haven’t written about their articles before. After all, they aren’t known for writing the kind of crap that the Harvard Business Review  writes with regard to sales and selling.   

    While reviewing the article, I identified two themes – how much harder it is to sell today versus years ago and how millennials have adapted to changing times.

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