Sales Coaching

  • How Sales Coaching Utilizes a Quid Pro Quo

    • October 24, 2019
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Quid pro quo is all the rage.  The news networks are pointing to and from quid pro quo and arguing whether it was or wasn’t implied.  Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you’re on, you’ve probably heard it plenty more than you need to. 

    Could there be a sales coaching lesson here?

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  • The New Salesenomics

    • May 24, 2019
    • Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
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  • Why Coaching Causes Some Sales Managers to Hold On for Dear Life

    • March 4, 2019
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Over the past few months I’ve been coaching 30 sales leaders from 3 companies and while most are trying their hardest to do everything I recommend, apply everything they learn, and coach as instructed, there are several that don’t follow through and fail to move the needle for their teams.  A few don’t want to be coached.  A few don’t think they need to be coached.  A few are too proud to be coached.  A couple are too mentally challenged to be coached.

    Avoidance aside, there are six scientifically proven reasons for their struggles and I’ll share them with you here.

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  • Top 13 Requirements to Help You Soar as a Sales Manager

    • January 17, 2019
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    In my last article I shared the top 8 requirements for becoming a great salesperson.  Wow, did that resonate with people and there was a great discussion about it on LinkedIn.  In addition to that, I received a number of emails asking, what are the requirements for becoming a great sales manager?

    I’ll share those in a moment but first, since they were so popular, a few more “do you remember the first time” questions:

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  • How Getting Feedback and Making Adjustments are the Keys to Sales Improvement

    • December 5, 2018
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Becoming great at selling – or anything else for that matter – is about making adjustments. In order to make an adjustment you need feedback – something you see, hear or feel that informs your ability to adjust.  Take Baseball for example.  When I watch my son hit he receives instant feedback from every swing of the bat.  He usually crushes the ball and that suggests that no adjustment is needed.  If he tops the ball or pops it up it is probably an issue with timing.  If he peels the ball to the right, he probably opened his front shoulder too early. If he squares the ball up but doesn’t drive it he probably failed to use his legs. He also has 5 private coaches who coach him or, in other words, provide feedback. 

    That brings us back to selling.  Salespeople need feedback too.

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  • Golden Nuggets from the CSO Insights 2018 Sales Talent Study

    • October 25, 2018
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I had a chance to review the CSO Insights 2018 Sales Talent Study and extracted some fascinating data.  I thought it might be interesting to take their data, overlay some of Objective Management Group’s (OMG) data, and see what we can take away from that.

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  • How to Achieve Short-Term Explosive Growth from your Sales Team

    • September 14, 2018
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Explosive Growth.  Positive Momentum.  Better Morale. Greater Confidence. Improved Capabilities.

    Wouldn’t you just love using those phrases to describe your sales force?

    We know from the data in this article that according to Objective Management Group (OMG), sales managers who spend at least 50% of their time coaching have salespeople who are 28% more effective.

    We know from OMG’s data in this article that sales managers who are effective at coaching have salespeople who are 16% more effective.

    And we know from the same data that sales managers who spend at least 50% of their time coaching AND are effective at coaching have salespeople who are 49% more effective. 

    That’s 49% more effective!

    So what would a 49% bump mean to you and your company and what will it take to get there?

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  • Finally!  Science Reveals the Actual Impact of Sales Coaching

    • September 7, 2018
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    You must have heard the joke that 73.6% of statistics are made up!

    I have read and even reported that sales leaders who coach their salespeople see a boost in revenue of around 27%.  It sounds like a realistic number but I have not seen any science to back it up.  Until now.  Check this out!

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  • Do the Best Sales Managers Have the Best Salespeople?

    • August 27, 2018
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    We all see the effects that strong leaders have when they surround themselves with either strong, mediocre or weak people.  What happens when strong leaders inherit a mixed team?  What happens when they hire a mixed team?  What happens when we ask the same questions about weak leaders?

    I dug into a subset of data from Objective Management Group’s (OMG) evaluations of the salespeople who report to more than 15,000 sales managers to determine whether the best sales managers actually have the best salespeople.  I was surprised and disappointed by what I found.  Check this out!

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  • Latest Data – Strong Salespeople Score 375% Better Than Weak Salespeople

    • July 18, 2018
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Some of you might have seen Bryce Harper’s incredible last-minute barrage of home runs in the 2018 All-Star game. It’s one of the highlights of summer!  Today I give you a barrage of my own with three killer videos and a powerful data-packed article.  

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