Dave Kurlan

  • The Problem with Self-Directed Sales Training and its Role in Developing Salespeople

    • June 8, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    sales training

    Yesterday, Andy Miller and I delivered onboarding training to a group of new partners at Objective Management Group (OMG).  Andy reached the slide that said “Lunch” at the end of the day, and I spent most of the morning displaying only slide #2 which could have been covered in 10 minutes.  The spontaneous, robust discussion that broke out was not planned, but most importantly, it was not discouraged.  To the contrary, it was strongly encouraged.  The group learned more from that spontaneous two-hour discussion than they ever would have learned from the sterile slides.  Are slides bad?

    read more

  • Sometimes The Biggest Sales Problems Have the Simplest Solutions

    • May 30, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    sales problem

    There are simple, easy, fast and powerful solutions for sales problems too.  See my examples below.

    read more

  • 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. 

    read more

  • Top 10 Keys to Determining and Improving Your Ideal Win Rate

    • March 7, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    What kind of car should you drive?

    Answering that question with anything other than, “It depends,” is irresponsible because there are so many variables.  Choosing a car depends on budget, family size, how much stuff you load into your car, the length of your drives, the logo/ego influence, fit and function, ergonomics, appearance, perceived value, reliability, cost to drive it (gas/electric/mileage), and so much more.

    If that makes senses, why do companies struggle when I am unable to instantly tell them what their win-rate or closing percentage should be?

    There are so many the variables that can influence your sales win-rate and here are my top ten keys to win rates:

    read more

  • 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:

    read more

  • 4 Types of Sales Positions That Can Never Be Replaced by AI

    • February 22, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    We’re seeing ChatGPT’s ability to create human-like articles, essays, poems, notes and messages.

    I just asked ChatGPT to write a short poem on the death of selling.  Here’s what it generated.

    read more

  • 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!

    read more

  • 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.

    read more

  • This is What Would Happen if Bob Got Promoted to Sales Manager

    • February 7, 2023
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    For those of you who are familiar with my series of articles about Bob – the worst salesperson ever – you can catch up by enjoying, laughing, and making fun of him here.  12 of the articles that show up on that page are about Bob!

    read more