Analogies
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Vultures or the Trusted Name in Sales Training?
- March 2, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
Tired of Sandler, Challenger, SPIN, or Value Selling not delivering? Discover why companies turn to Baseline Selling after those methodologies fall short—and why it’s not vulturing, it’s expertise.
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Scarred for Life: Sales Lessons That Make Your Company Unstoppable
- February 23, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Music and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
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. -
How to Lock Competitors Out of Your Biggest Deals
- February 2, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
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.
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The $370 Fuse: Broken Trash Compactor Offers Lessons to Fix Sales Problems
- January 12, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
A $1 blown fuse cost me $370 in service fees because I misdiagnosed the problem. Sound familiar? Sales leaders often do the same thing—blaming negotiating, closing, prospecting, or new business acquisition—when the real issues are deeper: poor qualifying, weak differentiation, missing KPIs, and lack of accountability. Stop treating symptoms and start solving root causes.
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Is Your Sales SCAM Leaving a SCAR on Your Sales Team?
- December 1, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
Remember high school free periods vs. rigid bells? Your sales team’s dealing with the same drama—SCAM cultures and SCAR comp plans that fit half the reps and flop the rest. Time to offer options and slash turnover. (Read how!)
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Let the Sales Conversation Wander: Evolving Chats Unlock Powerful Sales Discovery
- November 24, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Music and Sales, Sales Assessments Compared, Understanding the Sales Force
When Monday morning hit and I had zero article ideas queued up—first time in 20 years, post-surgery aside—I panicked a bit. Then, cruising in the car with Beatles tunes blasting, I pinged Grok with a wild card: “How many songs did Lennon and McCartney write?” What unfolded was a total detour: We tallied their 1,200+ jams, stacked ’em against my 2k sales rants, dove into Dolly Parton’s marathon, Nutcracker team-sync lessons, Eagles live magic over studio polish… and boom, this post was born. No script, just flow. And that’s the secret sauce for killer sales discovery too—ditch the grocery-list questions, let the chat evolve, and uncover those hidden “must-haves” that seal deals. Data from OMG? Only 27% of reps nail qualifying, but the pros? They’re 4x more likely to crush quotas. Here’s how to jam like a pro.
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From Practice Range to Sales Mastery: The 8 Requirements for Game-Changing Sales Training
- November 17, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
In sales, just like in sports, anyone can start playing—but mastery takes real effort. Drawing parallels from baseball sandlots to golf courses, this article explores why most salespeople plateau early and why companies must step up with proper training. Discover the 8 essential requirements for sales training that delivers measurable results, from clear expectations to proven content, and why skipping it keeps teams stuck in mediocrity.
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How Salespeople Can Differentiate Themselves with Their Introduction
- November 4, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
Discover how adopting a catchy moniker—like my new “Sales Analogy King”—can set you apart in sales intros. Inspired by Verne Harnish and a “Tree-Stump Guy” hire, this reflective piece explores personal branding, legacy, and uncovering hidden talent with assessments like OMG.
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The Golf to Sales Analogy: When You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
- November 4, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
Discover how a late start in golf taught me the ultimate sales lesson: “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” From clueless reps sending premature proposals to managers without accountability, this post reveals the blind spots killing sales performance—and how a savvy CEO fixed it all.
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Sales Cholesterol Reveals If Your Sales Pipeline Is Clogged (And How to Fix It)
- October 31, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force
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.
