Expert insights. Personalized for you.
They will begin reopening the economy in three phases, but with some restrictions. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? It's sure as heck much better than what we have today, but will it work? In this article, I'll explain why it won't work like they hope, and what must occur for the economy to thrive again. MORE
Would you like to start a business? Can't figure out what business to start? I have three ideas for you: In the past four weeks, I have tried and tried and tried to get a glass company to replace the tabletop for a large outdoor patio table after the glass exploded in an early April storm. Four weeks laster, we still don't have the glass replaced. One of our garage door openers needs to be replaced because in every five out of six attempts to lower the door, the opener sends it back up again. MORE
You hired a great salesperson that didn't work out. You hired a so-so salesperson that did work out. You hired another great one that kicked ass, and another one that was so-so. That's the story of hiring salespeople. It's mostly hit or miss with an emphasis on miss. MORE
Given the current circumstances - a Global Pandemic and an economy where so many industries have been shut down or compromised - selling value will be more important than ever. The result of selling value is that you are able to win the business despite not having the best price. But when we talk about selling value, what does it really mean? MORE
You must have heard the joke that 73.6% of statistics are made up! I have read and even reported that sales leaders who coach their salespeople see a boost in revenue of around 27%. It sounds like a realistic number but I have not seen any science to back it up. Until now. Check this out! MORE
Unless you've been living in a cave, not paying attention to the news, or watching stations that are glorifying what is taking place in major US cities, we are in trouble - again. Cities continue to be overrun by rioters and looters, police have not been able to stop the epidemic of assaults, robberies and murders, some police departments have been defunded and there are plans to dismantle others. MORE
You know the stories of the Three Stooges, The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and baseball fans have just heard about The Three Batter Minimum (how stupid!). We're not going to discuss any of those threes today but we will talk about the three things companies must do, right now, in this quickly disintegrating economy, to drive revenue. Dave Kurlan Consultative Selling sales process Salesforce selling in the recession MORE
Back in the old days, when you wanted to copy something, you would have said, "I'm going to Xerox this." And for years when you needed a tissue you would have asked for a Kleenex. And when you wanted to clean your ears you would have asked for a Q-Tip. All three of these are examples where the brand and the product were one in the same. We're getting to that same point with Zoom video, where more than half of all salespeople are now using Zoom! MORE
I'm not usually late but I'm really late on this topic! Back in September The New York Times, which is often accused of publishing fake news, published an interesting article comparing personality tests to astrology. The story included specific assessments like The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , The Hartman Personality Profile (Color Code), Plum , and DiSC. MORE
You might be aware that I'm leading a one-hour, live broadcast tomorrow (Thursday May 21) on How to Get Your Company's Sales Engine Roaring Again. Dave Kurlan Sales Force economic crisis sales playbook recovery MORE
Do you hate meetings as much as I do? They're the worst. But I have one weekly meeting that'a always uplifting and productive. I'm talking about my weekly meeting with John Pattison , COO of Objective Management Group (OMG). MORE
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. MORE
Would you fly on a huge jet from Minneapolis, Minnesota to St. Paul, Minnesota, usually a 15-minute drive? Would you take a train between intersections of the same city block, usually a 2-minute walk? Would you take a bus to the bottom of your driveway - usually a 1-minute walk or less? MORE
What a month it's been! Not only how the Covid-19 virus has changed our lives and sent us to work from home, but how we are conducting our businesses from home. MORE
You wake up, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, you open the door and it's freezing cold outside. Or there is the opposite of that, when there are thick clouds, it's drizzling, you open the door and it's hot and humid as hell! Things aren't always what they appear to be. In early April, during the earlier stages of the virus-required lockdown, I wrote this article about some of the remote selling challenges that companies were experiencing. MORE
I was in the basement of our home looking for something when I saw it. It moved left to right, low, between the stored Christmas trees. I took another look and this time it moved right to left. Each time I moved, it moved. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't a critter but a shadow that I was casting. I saw something that simply wasn't there. A figment of my imagination. You could even call it a hallucination. MORE
We had a request for some data from one of our longtime partners. My knee-jerk reaction to her request was that it would be a big nothing burger. She asked for data that would show the difference between salespeople who are goal oriented and those who are not. MORE
We are in week 6 of lockdown, week 8 of voluntary work-from-home, while adapting, guiding and directing companies who still need to sell their products and services to generate revenue. At this point sales is about so much more than generating revenue for profit or to keep employees working. For most companies, sales is now about generating revenue to survive, as we stare down a whole new way of doing business. Forget uncertainty! Where we are right now is downright scary. MORE
Do you partake of dessert prior to eating your appetizer? Do you eat your dinner in the morning and have breakfast at night? Would you prefer to have the builder complete the finish work on your new house prior to framing it and installing the roof? MORE
Last week we moved our son into his dorm to begin his freshman year of college. The college President's opening remarks were virtual, so we joined the Zoom stream from our hotel room and listened in. He had some really useful things to share with the new freshmen and while his thoughts were targeted to the students, they apply quite equally to salespeople. Dave Kurlan Consultative Selling sales process sales pipeline Relationship Selling selling value MORE
Most in the cherry-picking news media are continuing to pound us with bad stuff: record unemployment, 80,000 dead, lockdowns into August, 30 trillion in debt, economy will be slow to recover, you'll be jailed if you open your business too soon, schools to remain closed in September, people will die, etc. But there is good stuff going on that they aren't talking about because, for the most part, the media doesn't care about sharing the good stuff. It's bad for ratings. MORE
There we were, in the dark, in the middle of a hotel parking lot, at 3:45 AM. The hotel fire alarm went off and we didn't want to ignore the warning that was so loud my wife and I couldn't hear each other speak. Why was every other guest in the hotel parking lot with us? MORE
The last few years it seems that each time it snows, even a little, they cancel school. Are school officials convinced that parents and bus drivers will put kids' safety in jeopardy because snow is falling? MORE
Forget Consultative Selling, Value Selling and Sales Process - the things I talk about most often. The inability to sell that way is nothing - and I mean nothing compared with what I'm going to explain today! For most salespeople and companies, the last three weeks has been an absolute roller coaster. MORE
Your teenage daughter, growing 4-6 inches per year, asks for two new pairs of sneakers. She's already outgrowing 3 pairs each year and these two, which are completely unnecessary, would keep her in fashionable footwear for only a few months. MORE
Today we'll discuss how to measure sales effectiveness of different salespeople despite there being so many variables to confuse the matter. You can scroll directly to that topic or, if you don't mind, please read my 3 paragraphs of context. In 1990, I founded Objective Management Group (OMG), and now, thirty years later, we are on the verge of evaluating our two millionth salesperson. MORE
There are comparisons of apples to oranges, red or green, black or white, stop and go, and the most relevant and current of all, liberals to conservatives. In today's article, I'll share a hot/cold comparison of my own, but this one is about sales candidates. MORE
Maybe you drink the finest wines, stay at the most luxurious hotels, dine at the best restaurants, purchase the best brands and drive the fanciest cars. Or not. Either way, you'll at least want to know where you can find the best salespeople in the world, right? MORE
It's April 17 and nearly every salesperson is selling from home. It's just temporary, right? Maybe. But what if it's not? According to the President, Vice-President, Scientists and some Governors, the economy will begin reopening in stages, perhaps as soon as May 1. MORE
94% of sales managers are optimistic about their salespeople. That's a very surprising statistic for a couple of reasons: 50% or more of their salespeople won't hit their quotas this year and haven't since at least 2008. MORE
One of the questions we are often asked by HR Directors is, "Can people game the OMG assessment?" Of course they can try, but we have a very effective algorithm that smokes out those who attempt to cheat. MORE
Most companies don't understand that crappy customer service is really a sales issue. When a company's customer service is thoughtful, helpful, kind and thorough, that great customer service actually serves the sales organization. MORE
Last week Tom Hopkins shared a post on LinkedIn that resembled what I have said so many times. He said, " The art of selling involves two jobs: Job One is to reduce sales resistance and the other is to increase sales acceptance.". Many readers left comments about the importance of relationships as a means to preventing resistance from going up. I left a comment that said, " Thanks Tom. MORE
Understanding the Sales Force
SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
Most companies don't understand that crappy customer service is really a sales issue. When a company's customer service is thoughtful, helpful, kind and thorough, that great customer service actually serves the sales organization.
Understanding the Sales Force
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
A short end-of-the-week post. sales assessment Dave Kurlan sales recruiting hiring salespeople OMG Assessment sales selelction
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Understanding the Sales Force
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
Do you hate meetings as much as I do? They're the worst. But I have one weekly meeting that'a always uplifting and productive. I'm talking about my weekly meeting with John Pattison , COO of Objective Management Group (OMG).
Understanding the Sales Force
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
Your teenage daughter, growing 4-6 inches per year, asks for two new pairs of sneakers. She's already outgrowing 3 pairs each year and these two, which are completely unnecessary, would keep her in fashionable footwear for only a few months.
Speaker: Ruth Stevens, President of eMarketing Strategy
In a pandemic, it’s more important than ever to focus on retaining and expanding current customers. So, how can sales and marketing support the retention effort? Join Ruth Stevens as she dives into this fast-paced session and reviews the 7 key strategies for current customer marketing, to enable sales and expand customer value.
Understanding the Sales Force
AUGUST 25, 2020
There we were, in the dark, in the middle of a hotel parking lot, at 3:45 AM. The hotel fire alarm went off and we didn't want to ignore the warning that was so loud my wife and I couldn't hear each other speak. Why was every other guest in the hotel parking lot with us?
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Understanding the Sales Force
APRIL 17, 2020
It's April 17 and nearly every salesperson is selling from home. It's just temporary, right? Maybe. But what if it's not? According to the President, Vice-President, Scientists and some Governors, the economy will begin reopening in stages, perhaps as soon as May 1.
Understanding the Sales Force
APRIL 6, 2020
What a month it's been! Not only how the Covid-19 virus has changed our lives and sent us to work from home, but how we are conducting our businesses from home.
Understanding the Sales Force
AUGUST 12, 2020
Last week we moved our son into his dorm to begin his freshman year of college. The college President's opening remarks were virtual, so we joined the Zoom stream from our hotel room and listened in. He had some really useful things to share with the new freshmen and while his thoughts were targeted to the students, they apply quite equally to salespeople. Dave Kurlan Consultative Selling sales process sales pipeline Relationship Selling selling value
Understanding the Sales Force
JANUARY 29, 2020
We had a request for some data from one of our longtime partners. My knee-jerk reaction to her request was that it would be a big nothing burger. She asked for data that would show the difference between salespeople who are goal oriented and those who are not.
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
Every sales forecasting model has a different strength and predictability method. It’s recommended to test out which one is best for your team. This way, you’ll be able to further enhance – and optimize – your newly-developed pipeline. Your future sales forecast? Sunny skies (and success) are just ahead!
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Understanding the Sales Force
APRIL 27, 2020
We are in week 6 of lockdown, week 8 of voluntary work-from-home, while adapting, guiding and directing companies who still need to sell their products and services to generate revenue. At this point sales is about so much more than generating revenue for profit or to keep employees working. For most companies, sales is now about generating revenue to survive, as we stare down a whole new way of doing business. Forget uncertainty! Where we are right now is downright scary.
Understanding the Sales Force
APRIL 20, 2020
They will begin reopening the economy in three phases, but with some restrictions. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? It's sure as heck much better than what we have today, but will it work? In this article, I'll explain why it won't work like they hope, and what must occur for the economy to thrive again.
Understanding the Sales Force
JUNE 8, 2020
Would you like to start a business? Can't figure out what business to start? I have three ideas for you: In the past four weeks, I have tried and tried and tried to get a glass company to replace the tabletop for a large outdoor patio table after the glass exploded in an early April storm. Four weeks laster, we still don't have the glass replaced. One of our garage door openers needs to be replaced because in every five out of six attempts to lower the door, the opener sends it back up again.
Understanding the Sales Force
FEBRUARY 11, 2020
Do you partake of dessert prior to eating your appetizer? Do you eat your dinner in the morning and have breakfast at night? Would you prefer to have the builder complete the finish work on your new house prior to framing it and installing the roof?
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Understanding the Sales Force
JULY 14, 2020
Today we'll discuss how to measure sales effectiveness of different salespeople despite there being so many variables to confuse the matter. You can scroll directly to that topic or, if you don't mind, please read my 3 paragraphs of context. In 1990, I founded Objective Management Group (OMG), and now, thirty years later, we are on the verge of evaluating our two millionth salesperson.
Understanding the Sales Force
JANUARY 13, 2020
One of the questions we are often asked by HR Directors is, "Can people game the OMG assessment?" Of course they can try, but we have a very effective algorithm that smokes out those who attempt to cheat.
Understanding the Sales Force
SEPTEMBER 6, 2018
You must have heard the joke that 73.6% of statistics are made up! I have read and even reported that sales leaders who coach their salespeople see a boost in revenue of around 27%. It sounds like a realistic number but I have not seen any science to back it up. Until now. Check this out!
Understanding the Sales Force
JUNE 22, 2020
Back in the old days, when you wanted to copy something, you would have said, "I'm going to Xerox this." And for years when you needed a tissue you would have asked for a Kleenex. And when you wanted to clean your ears you would have asked for a Q-Tip. All three of these are examples where the brand and the product were one in the same. We're getting to that same point with Zoom video, where more than half of all salespeople are now using Zoom!
Speaker: Christopher Ryan, Founder and CEO of Fusion Marketing Partners
Sales & Marketing departments that work together guarantee higher acquisition, better nurturing, and more effective sales. Join Christopher Ryan for this insightful webinar, presenting the wide funnel lead nurturing model. Don't miss out on this opportunity to get your teams working together and your revenue performance optimized.
Understanding the Sales Force
JANUARY 16, 2020
There are comparisons of apples to oranges, red or green, black or white, stop and go, and the most relevant and current of all, liberals to conservatives. In today's article, I'll share a hot/cold comparison of my own, but this one is about sales candidates.
Understanding the Sales Force
DECEMBER 9, 2019
The last few years it seems that each time it snows, even a little, they cancel school. Are school officials convinced that parents and bus drivers will put kids' safety in jeopardy because snow is falling?
Understanding the Sales Force
NOVEMBER 13, 2018
94% of sales managers are optimistic about their salespeople. That's a very surprising statistic for a couple of reasons: 50% or more of their salespeople won't hit their quotas this year and haven't since at least 2008.
Understanding the Sales Force
MARCH 3, 2020
I'm not usually late but I'm really late on this topic! Back in September The New York Times, which is often accused of publishing fake news, published an interesting article comparing personality tests to astrology. The story included specific assessments like The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , The Hartman Personality Profile (Color Code), Plum , and DiSC.
Speaker: Marc Wayshak, Sales Strategist, Best-Selling Author & Founder, Sales Insights Lab
So many reps' email efforts could be yielding more meetings--simply by using a better strategy. Watch the webinar with Marc Wayshak, Sales Strategist and Best-Selling Author, to get lots of great strategies on how to set up meetings via email! <
Understanding the Sales Force
JANUARY 9, 2020
You hired a great salesperson that didn't work out. You hired a so-so salesperson that did work out. You hired another great one that kicked ass, and another one that was so-so. That's the story of hiring salespeople. It's mostly hit or miss with an emphasis on miss.
Understanding the Sales Force
MAY 13, 2020
Most in the cherry-picking news media are continuing to pound us with bad stuff: record unemployment, 80,000 dead, lockdowns into August, 30 trillion in debt, economy will be slow to recover, you'll be jailed if you open your business too soon, schools to remain closed in September, people will die, etc. But there is good stuff going on that they aren't talking about because, for the most part, the media doesn't care about sharing the good stuff. It's bad for ratings.
Understanding the Sales Force
JUNE 25, 2020
You wake up, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, you open the door and it's freezing cold outside. Or there is the opposite of that, when there are thick clouds, it's drizzling, you open the door and it's hot and humid as hell! Things aren't always what they appear to be. In early April, during the earlier stages of the virus-required lockdown, I wrote this article about some of the remote selling challenges that companies were experiencing.
Understanding the Sales Force
MARCH 16, 2020
Given the current circumstances - a Global Pandemic and an economy where so many industries have been shut down or compromised - selling value will be more important than ever. The result of selling value is that you are able to win the business despite not having the best price. But when we talk about selling value, what does it really mean?
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
Sales enablement is the strategic process of providing sales teams with the content, guidance, and mentorship needed to engage targeted buyers. It’s all about equipping sales professionals with the tools they need to put their best-selling foot forward. And if sales teams want to continuously sell better -- and faster -- their sales enablement process must have a game-winning strategy. It's time for you to start selling smarter - and hitting your sales number - with the best B2B database in the market. Get started today.
Understanding the Sales Force
MARCH 12, 2020
You know the stories of the Three Stooges, The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and baseball fans have just heard about The Three Batter Minimum (how stupid!). We're not going to discuss any of those threes today but we will talk about the three things companies must do, right now, in this quickly disintegrating economy, to drive revenue. Dave Kurlan Consultative Selling sales process Salesforce selling in the recession
Understanding the Sales Force
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
Maybe you drink the finest wines, stay at the most luxurious hotels, dine at the best restaurants, purchase the best brands and drive the fanciest cars. Or not. Either way, you'll at least want to know where you can find the best salespeople in the world, right?
Understanding the Sales Force
JULY 22, 2020
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.
Understanding the Sales Force
MAY 15, 2019
I was in the basement of our home looking for something when I saw it. It moved left to right, low, between the stored Christmas trees. I took another look and this time it moved right to left. Each time I moved, it moved. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't a critter but a shadow that I was casting. I saw something that simply wasn't there. A figment of my imagination. You could even call it a hallucination.
Speaker: Brian Carroll, CEO and Founder of markempa
Marketing and sales feel pretty tricky right now. What worked before now feels out of touch, but have you made plans for how you'll continue to move forward? You've likely tried everything: expert recommendations, best practices, the latest tools, and automation. But your results are falling short. Here's the thing: All the automation tools, best practices, data analytics won't help get better results now until you master empathizing with your customers. In this webinar, you'll learn how to go beyond rational-logic based sales/marketing and adjust your sales enablement strategy to better understand how buyers feel so that you can connect and help them on their journey.
Understanding the Sales Force
MAY 20, 2020
You might be aware that I'm leading a one-hour, live broadcast tomorrow (Thursday May 21) on How to Get Your Company's Sales Engine Roaring Again. Dave Kurlan Sales Force economic crisis sales playbook recovery
Understanding the Sales Force
APRIL 9, 2020
Forget Consultative Selling, Value Selling and Sales Process - the things I talk about most often. The inability to sell that way is nothing - and I mean nothing compared with what I'm going to explain today! For most salespeople and companies, the last three weeks has been an absolute roller coaster.
Understanding the Sales Force
MAY 29, 2019
Last week Tom Hopkins shared a post on LinkedIn that resembled what I have said so many times. He said, " The art of selling involves two jobs: Job One is to reduce sales resistance and the other is to increase sales acceptance.". Many readers left comments about the importance of relationships as a means to preventing resistance from going up. I left a comment that said, " Thanks Tom.
Understanding the Sales Force
JULY 18, 2020
Unless you've been living in a cave, not paying attention to the news, or watching stations that are glorifying what is taking place in major US cities, we are in trouble - again. Cities continue to be overrun by rioters and looters, police have not been able to stop the epidemic of assaults, robberies and murders, some police departments have been defunded and there are plans to dismantle others.
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
This eBook highlights best practices for developing a pipeline management process that helps sales leaders and their team C.L.O.S.E (you’ll see what we mean in this eBook) more revenue through data-driven prospecting, stage analysis, and subsequent sales enablement.
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