Search Results

  • Data Shows Sales Commitment and Motivation Changed During Quarantine

    • July 22, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Steve Taback and I started our respective sales training firms at the same time back in 1985.  We became great friends and he became the second licensee of Objective Management Group (OMG) in 1990.  He emailed me asking if I had seen a change in any of the scores of the 21 Sales Core Competencies since the Pandemic had hit.  Specifically, he was wondering if there was an increase in the number of salespeople who lacked Commitment or whose Outlook wasn’t good.

    OMG! (the other version of OMG this time)  Was he asking me to do some research on sales assessment statistics?  God, I love that!

    Damn that Steve is good.  Turns out he was right.  Below I’ll share the changes in Commitment, Outlook and Motivation, all of which fluctuated during the past several months.

    Take a look at these three screen shots which tell one part of the story.

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  • Can the Lack Commitment to Sales Success Finding be Wrong?

    • April 1, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Have you ever witnessed salespeople who go part of the way, but not all the way to get the business?  They make the call, but don’t convert the call?  They hold the first meeting, but walk away without traction?  They add a new opportunity to the pipeline, but don’t move it forward?  They do all of the right things, but with the wrong people? They qualify an opportunity, but don’t get any further?  They forecast an opportunity as closable, but it doesn’t close?  Those are all examples of salespeople with conditional commitment.  They do what it takes, but only when it’s comfortable for them.

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  • Focus, Discipline and Commitment

    • January 19, 2015
    • Posted by: Kurlan & Associates, Inc.
    • Categories: Monthly Tips, Motivation

    In these economic times, maintaining your focus, being disciplined and strong commitment are more critical than ever. Do you ever find yourself becoming distracted? Do you ever find yourself:

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  • Is the “Lack of Commitment to Sales Success” Finding Predictive?

    • January 5, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    So you have your sales force evaluated and in addition to learning why you are getting the results you are getting, and what you can do to significantly improve those results, you are surprised by some of the individual findings on some of your salespeople. One of the findings that generates the most push-back is Lack of Commitment to sales success.

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  • Consultative Selling, Commitment and Training – Like Oil & Water

    • March 14, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    We recently evaluated a sales force where the salespeople had, on average, only 18% of the attributes of a consultative seller.

    “How could that be?”, asked the Director of Sales.  “Achieve Global has come in 3 times in 3 years to teach consultative selling!”

    That could be the punchline, but it’s not.

    So, why didn’t the training on consultative selling stick?  There are reasons aplenty!

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  • Is the “Lack of Commitment to Sales Success” Finding Predictive?

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

    So you have your sales force evaluated and in addition to learning why you are getting the results you are getting, and what you can do to significantly improve those results, you are surprised by some of the individual findings on some of your salespeople.  One of the findings that generates the most push-back is Lack of Commitment to sales success.

    We could hear any of the following comments as push-back to this finding:

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  • The Difference Between Sales Commitment and Desire

    • November 18, 2011
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    I was explaining this difference to a client and the two findings, which we were comparing, were striking in their contrast.

    The candidate in question scored 100 (off the charts) on Desire (how badly he wants to succeed in sales); yet, as low as he was high – 16 – on Commitment – his willingness to do what it takes to succeed in sales. So as you might expect, the client asked, “How can he score so high in Desire but so low in Commitment?”

    Great question.

    I’ll explain it in exactly the same fashion I explained it to him.

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  • The Difference Between Sales Commitment and Work Ethic

    • September 29, 2011
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    When a sales force evaluation shows that a salesperson lacks commitment, the most likely remark we hear from management is usually, “but he has such a good work ethic!”  When we ask what they mean by “work ethic”, management often say things like:

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  • What’s the Difference Between Sales Commitment and Motivation?

    • September 8, 2011
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    “Which is more important in sales – commitment or motivation?”

    Let’s discuss the difference first.

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  • Top 10 Reasons Why Sales Commitment Has Become More Important

    • June 15, 2010
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    My recent analysis has shown that today, Commitment has overtaken Desire in importance and we will be reflecting that in assessments very shortly.  But Why?  What has caused this fundamental shift?

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