Dave Kurlan
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Top 10 Kurlan Sales Articles of 2013
- December 19, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
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The Future of Selling
- December 18, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My vision, of how the future of selling is shaping up, appears in today’s (the December 18, 2013) issue of Top Sales Magazine.
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Is the Concept of Sales Process Really Antiquated?
- December 16, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It’s really not sales process itself that is antiquated; it’s most people’s perception of sales process that is antiquated.
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What Is the Makeup and Function of the Ideal Sales Force
- December 12, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’ve written four White Papers over the last several years, all backed by science and data from the more than 700,000 salespeople and sales managers that Objective Management Group has evaluated and assessed. They include:
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Sales Traditions and Rituals – They’re Not Just for December
- December 11, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
For some salespeople, selling is as caked in tradition and ritual as any religious ceremony. To get a sense of this, consider the many inside sales roles, demo-centric salespeople, and low-level, in-home salespeople. Many inside salespeople repeatedly read from the same script. Most demo-centric salespeople must cover all of the features and benefits. And many in-home salespeople perform a mini-show on every sales call.
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10 Tips for Great Keynotes and Better Sales Presentations
- December 10, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I thought I would share some tips that you could incorporate into your group sales presentations, lunch and learns, conference talks and appearances to make them more effective.
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Why Did The Move from Outside to Inside Sales Take So Long?
- December 9, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Eventually, most antiquated models are replaced by more up-to-date, efficient, and sometimes exciting models.
Outside sales is being replaced by inside sales but not in the way that most people think. The people in outside sales aren’t being replaced by the people in inside sales. That’s not what this is all about. Let’s quickly compare inside sales to outside sales.
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What is the Most Difficult Part of the Sales Process?
- December 6, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We discussed the various challenges associated with all three milestones and when all was said and done, everyone agreed that the midpoint, that crucial point in time where compelling reasons to buy must be identified, is the most difficult for salespeople.
Why? Well a quick look at the following list of mini-milestones, that must be accomplished in order to get to the point where compelling reasons will be shared, tells the whole story. How many of your salespeople can do all of this in their first meeting?
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Lost Sales, Deals, and Accounts – Fairy Tales or Dragnet?
- December 3, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, Dennis and I were reviewing Lost Deal comments for a client when we came across one that began, “In the end, when all was said and done…”
You really don’t have to read any further. You can easily recognize, from just the first few words, that this was going to be a fairy tale. A story. One salesperson’s editorial. A whole lot of words that will not be particularly useful for you or the analysis. Webster’s Dictionary defines a fairy tale as “a false story meant to trick people.”
When it comes to analyzing lost deals, we should be far more interested in watching a police show, like Dragnet, where you are more likely to hear, “Just the facts, Ma’am.”
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Opinion: Why Sales Win Rates Have Reached an All-Time Low
- November 27, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
One of the findings in the most recent Sales Performance Optimization Study, from CSO Insights, revealed that the win rate for deals has reached an all-time low.