Understanding the Sales Force

  • Advanced Sales Hacks to Take Your Sales Game to the Next Level

    • September 2, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    In mid-August, I hosted approximately 20 veteran sales experts at our office in the Boston area.  They were there to spend two days with me, hone their skills, and get coached up – some more.  Again.  They come every year!  And each year, we not only accomplish that, but we usually come up with something new for them to bring back and take for a drive.  Today, I decided to share one of the things we worked on this year.

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  • Sales Hacks and How to Improve Your Lead Follow Up Conversions

    • August 31, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Sales Hacks and How to Improve Your Lead Follow Up Conversions

    I have previously written about how important it is to quickly and consistently follow up on inbound leads. This article from September of 2013 included two great infographics that demonstrate lead conversion statistics. However, Russ, from FindAccountingSoftware.com, emailed me a link to this case study on 63,256 outbound calls that has much more specific, useful information.  

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  • Why Inbound and Inside Sales Experts Think Sales Process is Dead Too

    • August 18, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I love and use some of their tools and services and recommend them to clients too. But the key word here is tools. They support and enhance selling. Tools don’t replace selling.

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  • The Science of Sales Selection vs. the Marketing of Modern Selling

    • August 14, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I started with more than 100 sales-specific findings and narrowed them down to the 18 findings and scores that clearly differentiated their tops from their bottoms.  A mistake made by behavioral scientists and sellers of personality and behavioral styles assessments is that they only look at top performers and identify common traits.   They fail to realize that the bottom performers have the same personality traits and behavioral styles as the top performers and none of those traits or styles are predictive of sales performance.

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  • How the Right Questions Can Make up for Lack of Sales Experience

    • August 11, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Magic, racing and expectations are major factors in sales. We will discuss the role of each and how salespeople can be more consistent when they better understand those 3 factors and learn to manage them.

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  • Trust and Integrity in Selling May Not Be What You Think

    • July 28, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    as far as salespeople go, the holy grail is the salesperson who is both likable and has high integrity.  I believe there are significantly more salespeople in this sales category than the other three categories combined.  This may surprise people who are not in the sales professions because while salespeople constantly fight the stereotype of the snake oil salesperson, more often than not, it’s the prospects who lack integrity. They withhold information, bluff, play games, mislead salespeople and outright lie.  

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  • The Two Sides of Likable Salespeople

    • July 23, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Do sales leaders find certain salespeople to be more likable?  Do prospects and customers find certain salespeople to be more likable?  Are likable and integrity intertwined?  Can you have likable salespeople who lack integrity?

    Some more questions…

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  • Bugged by the Difference Between Great and Lousy Salespeople

    • July 21, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Yesterday, I noticed a large, furry, dead bug on the hood of my car. It seemed to be attached to the outer lip of the hood – like the edge of a cliff – right where the hood drops down to the grill. I got out of the car to remove the chunk of dead fur and I was shocked to see how wrong I was. It was dead all right, and it was furry. I’m not a tall person, so I wasn’t sitting high enough in the car to notice the distance between the bug and the lip of the hood, but my estimate was off by more than 2 feet! What I thought I saw was completely different from reality.

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  • The Conversation Sales Leaders Must Have with Salespeople

    • July 15, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Mark was right.  It turned out that we did not have a deal, as the vice president’s peer in networking was blocking it.  We eventually got a meeting with him and won the deal.  More important, Mark set the tone:  Sloppiness would not be tolerated.

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  • An Ode to the Evolution of the Pipeline

    • July 13, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Selling – the art and science of getting people who didn’t necessarily want what you have, to pay you a premium for it. Before you can sell anything, you must have some people to sell it to! Fill the pipeline today!

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