Baseball and Sales
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There are No Feelings in a Sales Pipeline Review
- July 20, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Baseball and Sales, Sales Pipeline and Forecast
When you’re too close to a deal, emotions cloud everything. Learn why the best sales managers step back for the pavilion view—facts over feelings—and turn pipeline reviews into real coaching opportunities.
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The Rise of Socialism in Sales: How Equal Outcomes Are Killing Merit and Performance
- July 1, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Baseball and Sales, Dinger the Dog, Politics and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
Socialism has quietly crept into sales organizations through equal-outcome compensation plans, weakened accountability, tenure-based promotions, and identity-focused hiring. The result? Lower performance, entitlement, and frustrated top producers. Here’s what’s happening and what smart leaders can do about it.
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What a Sales Turnaround Has in Common with a Baseball Turnaround
- June 30, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
The Boston Red Sox flipped their 2026 season with better coaching and approach. Your sales team can do the same. Learn the two key ingredients that create positive momentum and turn around results.
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What Happens When Decision Makers are Buried and Unreachable
- June 22, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
A backyard waterfall pump buried in mud after a storm is just like why most sales pipelines stall. Surface problems hide the real issues—like unreachable decision makers and weak competencies. Here’s how to unbury your pump and get revenue flowing again.
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What CEOs Need to Know About Their Sales Teams
- June 16, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Baseball and Sales, Best Top 10 Lists, Sales Pipeline and Forecast, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
When it comes to sales, CEOs don’t know what they don’t know. This is the article where you can understand what to expect from your sales team.
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Top 13 Reasons You Lose Sales to the Competition and What to Do About it
- June 15, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Baseball and Sales, Best Top 10 Lists, Understanding the Sales Force
A youth baseball tournament shows why sales teams lose winnable deals to competitors. Discover the top reasons win rates swing wildly, the hidden buyer biases at play, and how to know which opportunities are truly worth pursuing.
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Top 20 Reasons Salespeople Miss Quota and How to Fix it
- June 12, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Baseball and Sales, Best Top 10 Lists, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
People have been babying me since my bypass — and sales leaders are babying their teams the same way by lowering quotas. Here are the Top 20 Reasons Salespeople Miss Quota and exactly how to fix it instead of making excuses. No more false wins. Time to run the bases the right way.
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How Sales Management Mirrors Little League Baseball
- May 29, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
Most sales organizations operate just like Little League Baseball — cheap, convenient, and great for the top performers while everyone else stays stuck. Here’s why promoting your best salesperson to manager is usually a costly mistake.
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How to Use Baseball’s xBA Metric to Measure Your Sales Pipeline and Improve Your Sales Forecasts
- May 4, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Baseball and Sales, Sales Pipeline and Forecast, Understanding the Sales Force
Two Hollies songs playing simultaneously on SiriusXM? A rare lucky break. The same thing happens in sales every day. See how baseball’s xBA metric helps you separate skill from luck in your pipeline and dramatically improve forecasting accuracy.
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Worst to First: How Sales Teams and Salespeople Can Turn It Around
- April 23, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
Discover how sales teams go from middle-of-the-pack to first place. Learn why leadership changes and culture shifts are the real keys to turning around veteran performance and hitting record revenue.
