sales pipeline

  • How Stealing 2nd Base is Today’s Secret to Success in Sales

    • June 16, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The count on the batter was 2-1 and it was time for a desperate fourth chat.  This time, I demanded, with dire consequences (that I won’t reveal here), that he steal.  He went.  The catcher threw and he was safe at 2nd and the run scored.  A momentary victory in the game within the game.  A play that will change him, even though it wouldn’t change the eventual outcome of the game.

    This morning, thinking about that play again, I’m reminded of two selling scenarios that are nearly identical.

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  • Sales 2.0 Conference; The Huge Sales Blitz and Sales Processes

    • March 11, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    In my experience, there have always been two kinds of taxi drivers. The first asks how long I’m planning to stay and when they learn I’m flying back out the same day, they offer to pick me up for the return trip to the airport.  This is the taxi-driver version of an account manager.

    The second type ignores me, talks on his phone, gets me where I’m going and looks for his next fare.  A hunter.  Purely transactional.  Just like a salesperson who knocks on doors.

    But yesterday, I met a third type.  He was a type 2, but with time management skills.  

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  • Sales Leadership Observations about Pipeline and Terminations

    • June 3, 2013
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    It gets a bit scary when people who are experts in one thing write about another.  Today’s example was sent to me by OMG partner Mike Shannon.  He sent along a recent BtoBonline.com post by Jeff Perkins.  Jeff suggests that the sales funnel is a thing of the past, but his examples, and therefore reasons, are way off base.  He seems confused about what the sales pipeline or funnel is supposed to do for us.  

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  • Controversial “Best Time” For Salespeople To Fill Their Pipeline

    • June 21, 2012
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The obvious answer is to make sure that they fill the pipeline when it begins to empty or is getting close to being empty, right?  

    Wrong.

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  • Can Too Many Opportunities be a Negative for Salespeople?

    • April 2, 2012
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Many of us in this space write about the obvious importance of filling the sales pipeline and keeping it filled. But what about too many opportunities in a salesperson’s pipeline?  Isn’t that a positive?

    Maybe not.

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  • Top 10 Reasons Salespeople Struggle to Get Decisions

    • March 7, 2012
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    If you were to remove the easy “yes” and “no” decisions that your salespeople hear during the course of the year, 80% of the opportunities that have been stalled in your pipeline would still be there.  Why is it so difficult for your salespeople to get decisions made on those opportunities?

    The simple answer, the one you already know, is that those prospects aren’t ready to buy.  Here are ten reasons why your salespeople have them in the pipeline:

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  • Do Your Salespeople Really Understand Pipeline Requirements

    • October 19, 2011
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    They sent their lessons but didn’t get it right.  Their takeaway was that it requires 20 opportunities to sell 1.  But that’s not correct.  It requires 9 opportunities to sell 1.  Why is that distinction important?

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  • What it Takes to Make Your Sales Pipeline Accurate & Predictive

    • August 5, 2011
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Yesterday, while speaking in DC, I asked my usual questions, but the response to one of the questions left me scratching my head.  It wasn’t a new question; as a matter of fact, I’ve been asking it for years.  And, as you can see below, I’ve been writing about the pipeline in various ways for years:

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  • Sales Managers Don’t Have to be Like Meteorologists!

    • January 27, 2011
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Last week I posted an article about the similarities between Meteorologists and Salespeople.  This morning, while watching the recap of our latest snowstorm this analogy became even more obvious to me.

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  • 5 Advantages That Overcome Inequities on the Sales Force

    • June 28, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    There are five areas where the sales force can develop a huge advantage over its competitors:

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