Dave Kurlan
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The $9 Million Cold Call – Do Salespeople Still Sell That Way?
- October 18, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Finding new opportunities is more important than ever, but there are alternative methods so that calls are more productive, less frustrating and more effective.
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The Advantage that Focused Salespeople Have
- October 17, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Show me a focused salesperson – one who isn’t aware of what else is taking place in the office this very moment because he is so focused on getting his sales work completed; one who won’t stop to take a break until she makes all of the required calls; one who won’t go to sleep at night until all of the appropriate follow ups, responses, CRM updates, paperwork and details have been finished – and I’ll show you a good salesperson.
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Top 10 Questions for Salespeople to Ask and Stay Away From
- October 12, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The theme of my recent posts has centered around links sent by readers, asking me to weigh in with a counterpoint to the conclusions drawn in the articles. Today, I address yet another Harvard Business Review Blog article (how many misguided HBR Blog articles are there?), this one about the Single Worst Question a salesperson can ask.
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Are Salespeople Born or Made? The Real Story
- October 11, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Several readers sent me the link to this article that discusses whether salespeople are born or made. Prior to that article, many others have attempted to answer the same question in the past few years. The common theme to each attempt is reliance on personality traits and, in Martin’s case, Language Specialization, Modeling of Experiences, Political Acumen and Greed. Good grief Charlie Brown!
Before we look at the science – not surveys and personalities – let me explain – me. I was both born and made to sell.
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Steve Jobs Legacy on Selling – 10 Criteria to Sell Itself
- October 6, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Steve Jobs left many legacies and I thought it might be useful to discuss the one he left on sales.
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Revealing Study of Salespeople Makes News at HBR
- October 5, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This article has my first reaction to the Challenger Sale after news of the book first appeared in HBR back in 2011.
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Time and Territory Management for Salespeople
- October 4, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Aside from requests for Motivational training, Time and Territory management training is one of the most inappropriate requests I receive each week. And I’ve been getting requests like that for more than 25 years!
Time and Territory management is what sales managers and VP’s ask for when they:
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Top 10 Ways to Increase Sales
- October 3, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’ll bet that every CEO, President, Director, VP of Sales and Sales Manager asks the “how can we increase sales?” question on a regular basis. Do you?
There are as many answers to this question as there are politicians running for US President in 2012. They include but aren’t limited to:
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The Sales Interview – When One Candidate is Actually Two?
- September 30, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You can overlook what you like and discount the candidate.
You can overlook what you don’t like and hire the candidate – a compromise.
Or you can play best 2 out of 3.
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The Difference Between Sales Commitment and Work Ethic
- September 29, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When a sales force evaluation shows that a salesperson lacks commitment, the most likely remark we hear from management is usually, “but he has such a good work ethic!” When we ask what they mean by “work ethic”, management often say things like: