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Top 20 Reasons Why Data May Not be the Key to Boosting Sales
- June 11, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I read somewhere that data was the key to boosting sales. Really? Says who?
When you look into the “who”, it should come as no surprise that it’s the companies that provide data analytics that say so. Don’t get me wrong; data (and especially the right data) can be very useful. But data, by itself, doesn’t boost anything.
If you are getting the right data…
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Your Next Sales Candidate: Looking for “The One”
- March 5, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You can get sales selection right, but it takes the right process, tools, interviewing skills, and selection criteria. As with the sales process, you can’t skip steps, take anything for granted, or be too casual about your role in any part of the process.
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What Percentage of Sales Candidates are Worthy of Being Hired?
- January 13, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It’s an interesting question and one that has more than one answer. I wrote an article back in September of 2013 that asked the question, Are Sales and Sales Management Candidates Getting Worse?
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Sales Candidate Shortage – More Proof That Sales Isn’t Dead Yet
- November 7, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
As you probably know, many people have been writing premature obituaries about the impending death of selling. Of course, that’s been going on since at least 2006 when I posted my first rebuttal to this silly claim, and as recently as last month when I posted my latest rebuttal. It’s being perpetuated by extremist marketers who are claiming that inbound will become the be-all end-all.
It’s simply not true.
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Personality Tests, Sales Candidate Selection – How Tests Measure Up
- June 17, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
As with costumes, you only need to take off the mask and you’ll see what’s underneath. No exceptions. No apologies.
Personality tests aren’t predictive either. Oh, they say that they are? Then why is their validation of choice “construct validity” rather than “predictive validity”?
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The Latest and Greatest in Sales Force Effectiveness
- April 24, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We have introduced our share of evaluation and assessment tools during the past 23 years, but this introduction was completely different. My team worked tirelessly for nearly an entire year on our latest gem and our Partners received it, with even more enthusiasm than we felt, when we completed the project just 48 hours earlier.
Why all the excitement?
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Latest Research on Personality Assessments for Sales Selection
- April 15, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Two articles caught my attention today.
The first, 10 Traits of Successful Salespeople, was typical of the misinformation that often passes for must-read information:
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View From the Top – When Salespeople Call on Purchasing
- February 19, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The single question that salespeople ask more than any other is, “When I’m with Purchasing, they don’t seem to have a compelling reason to buy and don’t care about our value-add. What can I do?” I’ll answer that question shortly. First, I have an analogy to help you see it from my perspective.
Take an elevator up at least 20 floors in Manhattan and immediately you’ll notice that the view from the top is mostly yellow – a sea of taxis mixed in with some limos and buses. From high above Manhattan, I saw these comparisons:
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Top 5 Insights From Latest Sales Organization Studies
- February 7, 2013
- Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The folks over at IKO Systems were nice enough to send me a collection of infographics which they call 66 Crazy Sales Figures. I finally had a chance to read through it and found 5 sales figures which, after I combined them, are quite interesting:
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Sales Hiring Chronicles: The Doctor, The Drug Dealer and The User
- January 31, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Recruiters think that all of their candidates walk on water. Clients think that because of our assessment, quality advice and guidance that we walk on water.
So the recruiter sends 5 of the best candidates ever to the client, who has them assessed, and 3 are not recommended. The recruiter is upset, “Why are you using that stupid assessment? You don’t need that! I know these candidates and they’re awesome.”