Analogies

  • Found: A Great Article About How Important Salespeople Are
    • September 7, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    Yesterday, although I wasn’t looking for it, I found my laptop charger that I misplaced a few weeks ago.  Today, I found a shirt I wasn’t looking for. It was purchased in May, but I had forgotten about it.  Later today, a post appeared in my LinkedIn feed and although I wasn’t looking for an article by a physician, I read it and am so glad I did.

    Would you like to know what I loved about that article?  I’ll share, but first, consider that…

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  • Must Read – How a 15% Corporate Minimum Tax Will Impact Companies and Sales Teams
    • August 10, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    The primary point of today’s article is to point out the irony of hiring 80,000 agents but you’ll have to read a bit of background before I can point out the irony.

    So why are they hiring 80,000 IRS agents?

    They want the rich to pay their fair share and that sounds fair, but let’s go beyond the headline and general talking point.  There are 724 billionaires in the US (of 2,775 worldwide) and it’s not that hard to find a millionaire because there are 20 million of them in the US (50 million worldwide).  If they target billionaires it would work out to 110 new agents per billionaire.  Sounds like overkill.  They also want to make sure that corporations pay their fair share so this legislation imposes a minimum 15% tax on corporations. 

    Let’s focus on the 15% tax for a moment. I can think of only three ways for corporations to deal with that surcharge:

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  • Can My Car Uncover Sales Qualification Criteria Better Than Most Salespeople?
    • August 8, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, 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?

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  • The Many Different Selling Roles and How They Differ – Part 1
    • July 27, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    The same kind of thinking is required when thinking about the various roles of salespeople.  We can name them: Account Executive, Territory Manager, Business Development Rep, Sales Development Rep, Account Manager, Key Account Manager, National Account Manager, Channel Manager, Application Engineer, Sales Consultant, Inside Sales, Outside Sales, and more.

    To further complicate things, in some companies and industries, Sales Managers function as salespeople and Sales VPs function as Sales Managers.

    While the above roles have selling as a primary responsibility, there are as many differences to selling roles as there are differences to the class or style of cars.  Today, we’ll explore the difference between an Account Executive and a Business Development Rep.

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  • Big Company Strategies That SMB Sales Teams Can Emulate
    • July 11, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    I know. The previous paragraph was about branding and marketing; not sales.  But there is a correlation to my theory that a slick, professionally designed logo, makes you look bigger and more successful. Give me a moment to explain how that applies to sales.

    If a professionally designed logo makes you look bigger, more successful, and provides credibility, wouldn’t the same theory apply to a professionally trained sales team?

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  • Selling and the Need for Speed
    • June 8, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    Salespeople tend to be in a rush to close – before an opportunity is even closable.  

    Salespeople tend to be in a rush to present – before an opportunity is even qualified.  Most salespeople are in such a hurry that they completely skip things like qualifying and discovery.  And when salespeople do perform discovery they accept the very first indicator they hear and rush to explain how their product or service addresses that indicator.

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  • The Cold Email I Read Through to the End – Is  There Hope for Salespeople and Marketers?
    • February 22, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    Sunday I received a cold email, generated using AI that was actually personalized.  Not with just my name, but it included information about my company, where I attended college and more.  While I still have no interest or need for the service being pitched, I actually read it instead of deleting it.  Here’s what it said:

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  • 10 Steps to Crushing Your Sales Forecasts
    • February 18, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    Times change but one constant is the requirement for monthly, quarterly and annual sales forecasts.  It used to be difficult to come up with that number but with the technology we have today, a single click in our CRM applications should show us the accurate number.  But there is always a lingering question that accompanies that click:  Is that really the accurate number?

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  • The Difference Between CyberThieves, Hackers and Most Salespeople
    • February 10, 2022
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

    On the one hand, I am shocked and chagrinned that the insurance company would use salespeople as a reference point for hackers.  You could not possibly understand the degree to which It bothers me.  

    On the other hand, you and I both know that if salespeople worked as methodically, consistently, aggressively, effectively, and efficiently as the hackers do, we would double our revenue.

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