sales leadership

  • How to Run a Killer Sales Incentive Contest

    • February 6, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Incentive programs are still very powerful as long as you make sure they don’t last for more than 90 days.  There are other factors that can make the difference between an effective and ineffective program.  Consider the three most important concepts:  Everyone must believe that they can win the contest, there should be more than 1 winner, and the rewards must be motivating enough for them to go into overdrive to win one.

    Let’s begin with how you get them to believe they can win.

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  • World Series, Super Bowl and the Sales Force – The Rallying Cry

    • February 5, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    With selling being such an individual sport, can any of this character and culture stuff be applied to a sales force?  Let’s discuss it and figure it out.

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  • Top 10 Ways Salespeople are Selling in the Dark

    • November 13, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Did you happen to see the movie Gravity?

    Early in the movie, the two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, lose communications with Houston.  From that point on, they don’t stop talking to Houston, they don’t stop reporting in and they don’t change protocol.  What they do change, is they add a phrase to the beginning of each message, “Houston, in the dark…”

    They are moving blindly, without direction, without feedback, without certainty.  They are in the dark.  That’s exactly how most salespeople go through each day, through each sales call and meeting, and through each sales cycle.  They are in the dark.

    It’s most obvious when salespeople don’t know:

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  • Why CEOs/Presidents Tolerate Ineffective Sales Management

    • October 7, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Lack of overall sales performance is an easily recognized problem.  A savvy President or CEO may correctly identify the symptoms: inaccurate forecasts, a lack of new opportunities, new salespeople failing to ramp-up quickly enough, delayed closings, and complacency. However, they usually fail to understand that these issues are not sales issues, but sales management issues.

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  • Presidents & CEO’s: 4 Out of 5 Sales Managers Are Ineffective!

    • October 2, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    A title like, “Presidents & CEO’s: 4 Out of 5 Sales Managers Are Ineffective”, will cause some Sales Directors, Sales VP’s and Sales Managers to click and read the article.  That’s OK, but a spoiler warning:  if you feel threatened by hearing the truth about yourself or your sales team, or would be uncomfortable sharing the truth about you or your team with the President or CEO, you should probably exit this article right now.

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  • Has the Death of Selling Finally Arrived?

    • September 23, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    eople in inbound marketing would have you believe that if you create the right content, get people to raise their hands, complete a form, and request something, then inbound marketers, formerly known as inside salespeople, can take it from there.  If you are selling something in great demand (iPhone 5), really inexpensive (monthly subscription of $20 or less), significantly lower-priced than your competition (by 20% or more), or that people must have (wireless service), then you can easily replace salespeople with marketers.

    However, there are 15 scenarios where you do need salespeople if you are selling something that:

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  • The Key to Powerful Sales Conversations

    • August 28, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Earlier this week, I wrote this article about the importance of using specific words and phrases at specific times. 

    That article discussed some of the milestones in the sales process where just the right word or phrase can make such a huge (make or break) difference in the direction that the sales call takes.  In the article, I mentioned “at just the right time”, but I didn’t elaborate.  I’ll correct that omission with the following examples.

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  • Which Industries Need the Most Help to Get Sales to the Next Level?

    • August 15, 2013
    • Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
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  • Get Sales Compensation Right to Recruit Winning Salespeople

    • August 13, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Sales candidates, especially good ones, are exponentially more difficult to attract than they were just two years ago. We regularly observe clients struggling when it comes to getting resumes from quality candidates. One of the reasons is compensation.

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  • Why Sales Leaders and Salespeople Get Frustrated

    • August 6, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    You may not have control over external factors or forces but you do have control over how you react to them.  Take a step back.  Take a deep breath.  Clear your head.  Start over.  Choose one thing that you know you can fix.  Take action.  Then get help fixing everything that you aren’t sure you can fix.  One thing at a time.  You can do this.

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