sales candidates

  • 10 Lessons From the Sales Candidate Who Smelled Like He Peed on Himself

    • July 3, 2009
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    It was quite the claim.  I remember telling my client that the next candidate we were to interview was the best sounding candidate I had ever spoken with on the phone. Robert, the sales manager, went to the lobby to get the candidate and returned, an ashen look on his face.  Ray, the candidate, followed Robert into the conference room and suddenly, I had the same ashen look on my face.  It seemed that the best candidate I had ever spoken with by phone was, well, a bum!

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  • The Sales Force with Over Achievers That Don’t

    • March 26, 2009
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I heard about a CEO who told one of my colleagues that all of his salespeople over achieve.  In the same phone conversation he mentioned that sales are down 20%.  Can you imagine where sales would be if his salespeople under achieved?  

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  • Topgrading Pros, Cons and Sales Assessments

    • February 23, 2009
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Somehow, I got thrown into the middle of an internet disagreement between Brad Smart, author of Topgrading, and Bob Corlett, a blogger who calls himself The Staffing Adviser.

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  • The Sales Process, Closing More Sales, Raising Expectations

    • September 29, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Today I was interviewed by Lee Salz, host of Secrets of Business Gurus, an internet radio talk show.  Today’s topic was “Sales Process Home Runs”.  (It’s so nice whem my interviewers tie baseball into our interviews!) We talked about the importance of a sales process and what’s involved in building one.  We also talked about hiring the right salespeople to sell within that process.  Click here to listen to this compelling 30-minute discussion.

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  • Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion

    • September 15, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Earlier today I was interviewed by Hank Walshak for a white paper on Sales Process, Sales Production and Sales Performance. As we discussed sales production – the concept that more salespeople equals more revenue, I explained dilution as it related to Baseball.

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  • How to be More Effective Selecting Sales Candidates

    • September 8, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    When it comes to assessing sales candidates, I strongly discourage benchmarking and here’s why.

    Let’s start with recruiting salespeople.

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  • Many Recruiters Fear Sales Assessments

    • August 22, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I’ll get a lot of flack over this article.  People will say that I’m unfairly characterizing recruiters as dealers of human flesh and that there are recruiters who not only use and pay for assessments themselves, but who guarantee the performance of the salespeople they place. I agree. If you must use a recruiter, use one of them! 

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  • Signs That the Economy Will Soon Improve

    • August 22, 2008
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    We saw it again.  It happened this summer, the tell tale tip off that things are turning around, that CEO’s are feeling confident enough to resume hiring salespeople.  Express Screens Licenses have shown a significant upswing and there are suddenly many more in the pipeline.

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