- November 17, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This is the 6th installment in my sporadic series on the Biblical Sales Team. Six installments puts me squarely alongside Hollywood’s most resilient franchises—Rambo, Rocky, Halloween, Harry Potter, Fast & Furious… and now, the Biblical Sales Team.
Previous installments can be found here:
Prequel – Sales Process
Genesis: On Scaling, Hiring and Firing Salespeople
Exodus: On Coaching Salespeople
Deuteronomy: Consequences and Some Baseball
In the previous articles we’ve built the team, coached them, tracked outcomes, and enforced accountability, and now it’s time to talk about how they go and create conversations, a tactical sales approach to execution.
In Matthew, chapter 10 verse 5, Ministry of the 12, Jesus sent his disciples out to spread the word. This account also appears in Mark 6 and Luke 9. When something appears multiple times, it signals importance and you don’t have to hit me in the head three times with a baseball bat to get my attention.
Of course I had some sales takeaways (surprise, surprise) including:
- Targeting is important: Jesus instructs his disciples to stay away from Gentiles and Samaritans, and to target the lost sheep of Israel. Targeting is a huge key to success because when you target, you can craft a very specific, applicable, relatable positioning statement that will get your prospect’s attention. Watch this recent one-minute example on video.
- Get Referrals: Jesus tells them that when they enter a new town they should ask who is worthy and visit them. Traditional (old) selling says you should always be closing but I believe it’s more useful to always be asking for referrals. Even on cold calls where there is no interest, surely they know someone you might be able to save, I mean help. Pro Tip: “It’s obvious I can’t help you, but is there someone you can think of that I might be able to help?” A million years ago, my first sales job was selling Cutco Knives in people’s homes. Each morning I canvassed neighborhoods, asked old ladies where the young married couples and single working girls lived, and got referred to them. At night, I called on and sold them. So glad I’ve spent the past 40 years in B2B!
- Go after the low hanging fruit: This goes hand-in-hand with targeting because Jesus wanted his disciples to visit the lost sheep of Israel. This implies pursuing those who are most in need of help. When you target the low-hanging fruit – the prospects who are most likely to need your help – your prospects will be less resistant. Casting a wider net includes those who already buy from someone else. Yes, they use what you sell, but you will experience much more resistance from those prospects.
- Talk to those who give you the time: Jesus tells his disciples that they should depart from whoever shall not receive them. That’s good advice. For salespeople, prospect lists can have thousands of contacts, so move on if they’re not receptive! On the other hand, if you have 5 potential customers in the whole world (an exaggeration), instead of moving on, try another way. In Baseline Selling, “The Cycle” is our methodology for persuading disinterested prospects who say, “Not interested.”
- Offer to do Demos: Jesus instructed his disciples to, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils…” In other words, demos! This is most prevalent in the world of SaaS, where BDRs dial for demos, but generally speaking, I am not a fan of a demo being the first milestone in the sales process. Jesus led with value (miracles as ‘demos’), but in sales, save the demo for after qualifying to avoid wasting time because a demo is not discovery.
- Positioning Statement: Jesus provided his disciples with a short script, an intro, to share with people. It’s always more effective when you have an effective positioning statement to begin the conversation. Your positioning statement should state who you help, the problem you solve that they might have, and why they might care.
- There will be Rejection: Jesus said, “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words…” That is the ancient version of “We’re not interested,” or “We’re all set,” or click (are there still dial tones? I haven’t heard one in years!). There is no selling without rejection and today, rejection more often appears in the form of getting ghosted as opposed to someone actually telling you to go away. Rejection isn’t personal, it’s math.
- Recover quickly from Rejection: Jesus said, “…when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” Shake it off and make the next call. No big deal. It will happen but when it does just move on. No problem. Nothing that should cause you to go postal or commit road rage.
These ancient tips still crush it today, especially when it comes to prospecting.
More than 2,000 years ago (and more than 2,000 articles ago!), cold calls were the gold-standard for spreading the word and closing new customers. While today’s sellers have sophisticated marketing to generate leads, not all companies spend the same amount of money, or generate enough leads to keep the pipeline filled. And even when lead generation is prolific, statistically, nine out of ten leads are crappy.
I’ve written enough articles on why using the phone is superior to sending automated cold emails and LinkedIn messages. AI automated notes and workflows are easier than ever to identify, hate and delete. But conversations are harder to ignore and the phone still creates conversations faster than any other outreach method.
What would Jesus do?
Even if mobile phones were available back then, he would still knock on doors. If knocking on doors isn’t your thing or it isn’t feasible, grab your phone, and find prospects who will talk with you about how you can help them. Do this now. Do this today. Do this every day.
His disciples received a positioning statement from Jesus, so you could probably use one too. Effectiveness on the phone requires not only a good positioning statement, but also great phone delivery skills. You must sound amazing so that the person on the other end of the phone would choose to speak with you. We can help with both – just drop us a note!
What’s your goto rejection-proof move?
Image by Grok
