Baseball and Sales

  • What Committed Salespeople Do Differently
    • April 24, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Salespeople Like Children, Understanding the Sales Force

    Commitment.  We have discussed commitment a LOT in this Blog recently because many people misunderstand the role it plays in successful selling.  

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  • Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion
    • January 14, 2015
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force

    Hiring salespeople is scalable until you get to a dilution point – very similar to the expansion that took place in baseball. When I was growing up in the 1960’s, there were 16 teams and expansion made it 20. Today, there are 30 teams and despite integrating more African American players, then Latin players and now Asian players, there isn’t enough pitching or depth on most teams. Pitchers with ERA’s above 5.00, who never would have made it to a major league team 40 years ago, make 40-50 appearances a year. And hitters that can’t run, throw or catch, but hit home runs from the cleanup spot as designated hitters, would never have risen beyond the minor leagues back then.

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  • Leading a Sales Force is Even More Like Baseball
    • November 6, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force

    I’ve written plenty about the similarity betwen baseball and selling, but today I’m writing about the similarity between baseball and sales leadership.  If you’re not a baseball person, you might not see the same things that I see, most of which can be applied to leading a sales force.  For example,

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  • Baseball, Sales Cycles, and the Quest for Shorter
    • September 23, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force

    In selling, there are even more options for shortening the sales cycle.  They include:

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  • Top 10 Mistakes Salespeople Make on the Phone (Funny Read)
    • August 13, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Best Top 10 Lists, Understanding the Sales Force

    Earlier this week, I wrote the “Get Your Butt Out of Your Head” article. At that same tournament, I heard an even funnier story from its director. He told us about a team who went 0-7, losing each game by the mercy rule. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, if a team is losing by 12 runs or more after 4 full innings, the game is stopped, showing mercy to the team who was getting slaughtered.

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  • As Good as Your Last Successful Hire – 10 Tips for Consistency
    • July 31, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
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  • What is the Best Sales Process for Increasing Sales?
    • July 14, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force

    Companies have terrific results when they implement Baseline Selling, and last week a well-known expert asked, “What is the big secret that makes Baseline Selling so powerful?”  He thought it would make for a great article discussion, so let’s attempt to answer that question by starting with a few questions of my own.

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  • How Stealing 2nd Base is Today’s Secret to Success in Sales
    • June 16, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force

    The count on the batter was 2-1 and it was time for a desperate fourth chat.  This time, I demanded, with dire consequences (that I won’t reveal here), that he steal.  He went.  The catcher threw and he was safe at 2nd and the run scored.  A momentary victory in the game within the game.  A play that will change him, even though it wouldn’t change the eventual outcome of the game.

    This morning, thinking about that play again, I’m reminded of two selling scenarios that are nearly identical.

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  • Key to Significantly Improve Sales Training Results
    • May 28, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force

    The best players, getting the advanced instruction on the travel teams, improve the most.  Those same kids, on their regular season team, learn almost nothing new and aren’t challenged or pushed.  Practice, and sometimes even the games, can be so boring for them that they don’t play their very best.

    Translation from Baseball to Selling

    If we translate all of that baseball to selling, the only two things that change are the activity and the age of the people being coached and trained.

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  • Are You Any Good at Evaluating Sales Talent?
    • February 11, 2014
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Categories: Baseball and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force

    You can probably spot an energetic, motivated, likable, memorable, polished, polite and attractive salesperson from a handshake away.  Aren’t those the ones you like best?  Aren’t those, especially when they have industry background, the ones you hire?  And don’t they all perform just swell?  

    No?  Why not?  After all, they met all of your criteria, didn’t they?

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