Understanding the Sales Force
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My Latest on Using Email to Book New Meetings
- November 29, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Salespeople have been spoiled by inbound leads, outbound emails, and BDRs generating leads for them. As a result, those in sales for fewer than ten years never learned how and suck at cold calling. Those who used to cold call but have since stopped, forgot how to and also suck at cold calling.
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Why Top and Bottom Salespeople Have the Same Scores
- November 21, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A question was brought to my attention about Objective Management Group (OMG) assessments. For context, OMG has assessed more than 2.4 million salespeople, their accuracy is legendary and they’ve earned their stripes for predictive validity as well. I was shown two sales candidate evaluations that at first glance had important findings that looked the same. Both individuals lacked Desire for Success in Sales and Commitment to Achieve Sales Success. The problem is that individual number one is their top salesperson and individual number two is their worst salesperson. The question I was asked was, “How can that be!”
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Movie Contrasts the Best and Worst Salespeople
- November 14, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We watched GameStop: Rise of the Players and despite it being a documentary, found it to be quite entertaining. It was David versus Goliath. It was Amateur versus Professional. It was about an improbable outcome accomplished by people who were unlikely to succeed and even more unlikely to win the big payoff.
While I thought it had a lot in common with selling, the twelve central figures:
Were not professional investors although they did invest in GameStop.
Were not skilled traders although they did conduct some research.
Did not trade as a full-time job or hobby.
Were making decisions based on hunches, not history or science.
Found in each other kindred souls with a shared passion for GameStop.The five statements above suggest that skills, attributes, competencies and capabilities were NOT part of their success so what could this possibly have in common with selling?
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What Companies Don’t Know About Sales
- November 10, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We heard that the “Sound of Freedom” was a good movie but waited until we could stream it at home. We loved the movie, but we were moved even more by the closing messages displayed on the screen. The statistics are astounding, where as a result of human trafficking, mostly at the southern border, more children are enslaved today than when slavery was legal! We didn’t know what we didn’t know.
“Companies don’t know what they don’t know about sales” is true in most companies and sales organizations.
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Coconut Flakes Help to Improve Sales Effectiveness
- November 6, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My wife took me to a Vegan restaurant for lunch and I ordered a sandwich that consisted of coconut, lettuce and tomato on multi-grain bread. I not only didn’t hate it, I liked it. I showed my wife that it had bacon in it and she swore it didn’t. She suggested I ask the owner so I asked him about the bacon and he explained that he prepared the coconut flakes to have the look, taste and texture of bacon. Fake bacon.
There are fake salespeople too.
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Two Keys for Successful Sales Presentations
- October 30, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I frequently write about taking a consultative approach, and listening and asking questions are the keys to successful sales presentations.
While watching game 2 of the 2023 World Series, it occurred to me that I still remember and can name every member of the 1967 Boston Red Sox, but I can’t do the same for the 2023 Red Sox. Could the difference be that the ’67 team went to to the World Series while last year’s team finished last in the American League East? It could also be that I was an impressionable 12 year-old that didn’t miss a single pitch that season, while this year’s team wasn’t worth watching. Could it be my short-term memory? Maybe it’s time to start taking Prevagen!
The point is that while I am fascinated by this insight, there is no chance that you care about this unless you relate to it. It’s simply not important to most of you.
Why is it so important for me to make you aware of a statement that is important to me but not important to you?
Salespeople must differentiate between what is important to their prospects and customers, versus what is important only to them.
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Apple Fritters and the 10 Keys to a Successful Sales Transformation
- October 25, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
For the first time, I knew what it felt like to totally suck at something other than golf.
The fritters came out mushy, like pudding. They lacked flavor, like cauliflower crusts. Instead of looking like apple fritters, they looked like cookies. You can’t believe what an epic failure this was! I would have been better off to outsource which, in the apple fritter world, would have meant a trip to Dunkin or Starbucks and it would have been perfect! And that, somehow, leads me to sales performance.
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How to Sell to Major Accounts That Love Your Competitor
- October 23, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Salespeople tend to take their best accounts for granted. They don’t call as often as they should. They don’t visit as often as they could. You need to be there and/or on the phone with them more often than the salesperson they like so much. Something is bound to go wrong. Something is likely to disappoint your prospect. That’s your opportunity to change the conversation.
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What Elon Musk and Great Salespeople Do Differently Than Everyone Else
- October 10, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Elon Musk doesn’t care whether you like him or not. He doesn’t care what you think about him. He doesn’t care what you say about him. All he cares about is that he is getting a lot of attention.
How does this apply to sales and selling?
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Milestones in the Sales Process are Like the Stones in a Wall
- October 5, 2023
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
An ideal sales process has 4 stages, each with anywhere from 4 to 10 milestones that must be met in order to move to the next stage.