Search Results

  • Can My Car Uncover Sales Qualification Criteria Better Than Most Salespeople?
    • August 8, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Wouldn’t it be great if salespeople had the equivalent of two camera intelligence to see what they don’t know they need to see?

    read more

  • Sound Check for Sales: 3 Best Practices That Need a 2026 Overhaul
    • March 12, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Dave Kurlan at a podium microphone doing a sound check for sales best practices, with speech bubble saying 'check, check, testing 123' – 2026 sales overhaul article header

    Sales closing is dead—time for a 2026 overhaul. Dave Kurlan shares why ‘finalizing’ replaces outdated closing, how fluid scoring and proper staging fix broken pipelines, and why buyer journeys need real discovery, not facilitation. No-BS tips to boost forecasts, shorten cycles, and win more.

    read more

  • Scarred for Life: Sales Lessons That Make Your Company Unstoppable
    • February 23, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Scarred for Life in Sales – sales lessons from Steely Dan, George Benson and a quadruple bypass

    When a Steely Dan tune came on the radio, it got me thinking about how they tried to be all things to all people — jazz chords, pure rock, easy listening — and ended up respected by no one. Same fate hit George Benson and Al Jarreau when they crossed over.
    One year after my quadruple bypass left me scarred for life, I realized sales has the exact same scars: chasing the wrong-size deals out of ego, staring at an empty pipeline, over-facilitating prospects, and misalignment with the real decision maker.
    Get properly scarred for life and those painful mistakes will never happen again.

    read more

  • How to Lock Competitors Out of Your Biggest Deals
    • February 2, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Massive bank vault door symbolizing secure protection for high-value sales deals

    In sales, your biggest deals deserve vault-level protection. Using a simple lock-to-vault analogy, learn why closable opportunities are your most valuable assets—and exactly how to lock the competition out for good.

    read more

  • Sales Cholesterol Reveals If Your Sales Pipeline Is Clogged (And How to Fix It)
    • October 31, 2025
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    sales cholesterol

    In this follow-up to my viral LinkedIn rant on pipeline blockages, I dive deeper into “sales cholesterol”—a new way to measure the health of your sales pipeline. Drawing from my quadruple bypass experience and inspired by comments from sales pros like Larry Levine, we map heart health metrics (HDL, LDL, ratios, and inflammation) to sales milestones using my Baseline Selling framework. Learn how to score opportunities, reps, and teams to spot clogs early, improve forecasts, and avoid those deadly stalls. No more unreliable probabilities—get objective diagnostics to tweak your lead gen “diet” or “medicate” with coaching.

    read more

  • Revolutionizing Sales Forecasting with a Baseball Twist
    • September 12, 2025
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Michael Kurlan college home run

    Discover the “Power Alley,” a revolutionary sales forecasting strategy inspired by baseball. Learn how this KPI aligns pipeline, forecast, and revenue to boost accountability and solve CEOs’ biggest frustration.

    read more

  • Wild Shifts in Sales Hiring Drive the Hire Rate From 3% to 0.5%
    • July 21, 2025
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    hiring salespeople

    Struggling to hire sales pros? Dive into real stats from a recent sales manager search: 169 candidates narrowed to 1 hire (0.5% rate). Uncover dramatic changes in response rates, drop-offs, and why a rigorous pipeline with tools like OMG is essential for nailing the right fit.

    read more

  • The 20-Year Legacy of Baseline Selling: Why Its Sales Process Still Wins in 2025
    • July 1, 2025
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Dave Kurlan baseball

    Celebrating 20 years of Baseline Selling, this article dives into why its staged, buyer-focused sales process remains the most complete framework for predictable, repeatable sales success. From its baseball-inspired origins to its seamless CRM integration with Membrain, discover why Baseline Selling outshines other methodologies.

    read more

  • Car Engines and Gas Prices Can Help Eliminate Obsolete Sales Tactics
    • May 15, 2025
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    sales traditions

    In this thought-provoking article, the author questions outdated traditions in automotive and sales industries. From measuring car engine power in horsepower—a term rooted in the 1700s—to gas prices still ending in 9/10 cents, the piece challenges why we cling to archaic practices. It also critiques sales tactics, like pitching over consultative selling, excessive proposals, and weak follow-up questions, urging a shift to modern, effective strategies for 2025.

    read more

  • My Key to Building a Strong, Sustainable, Sales Pipeline
    • April 16, 2025
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    sales pipeline

    Building a strong, sustainable pipeline requires not only commitment and discipline from salespeople, it also requires commitment and discipline from their sales leaders who cannot allow them to give up, give in, or take short cuts. While excellence involves advanced sales training skills, extended practice sessions and coaching, the desire to improve is the most important element.

    read more