Books, Movies, Theater and Television
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Bosch, Bounces and Why You Should Call Prospects Who Said No
- January 19, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
A surprising 30% of executive contacts turned over in the past year — meaning yesterday’s “no” often belongs to someone who’s no longer there. Using real email bounce data and lessons from shows like Bosch, this article shows why persistent prospecting is simple math, not heroic effort.
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What Salespeople Can Learn from Harry Potter
- January 6, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
Kick off 2026 with a killer January by mastering the first 10 seconds of every cold call. Inspired by the jaw-dropping magic of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, Dave Kurlan reveals why most salespeople sound boring, stiff, or scripted — and how to deliver a “magical” opener that grabs prospects instantly and books more meetings.
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The Nutcracker Ballet Has 3 Relevant Sales Competencies
- December 15, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Music and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
During a first sales call, suppose your salespeople hear one prospect say, “This has been a very interesting and productive conversation and we might have some interest in this.” And imagine another prospect at the same meeting says, “We’ll get back to you next month and let you know what kind of progress we’ve made.” And still a third might say, “In the meantime, please send us a proposal with references and timeline.”
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8 Movie Scenes to Frame Your Mind for Killer Sales Calls
- August 5, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
Discover how clips from classics like CSI, Dumb and Dumber, and Better Call Saul can pump you up, teach active listening, and help close deals—perfect motivation for your next sales call!
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Lessons from Happy Gilmore 2: Why Salespeople Need to Get Serious About Skill-Building
- July 28, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
Adam Sandler’s sequel delivers laughs and a sales wake-up call: Like Happy recommitting to golf, why don’t more reps grind on their skills? Explore 10 barriers backed by OMG data on 2.5M assessments, and how training flips the script for growth.
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Brad Pitt’s F1 Character Shows Us How to Tame Sales Mavericks
- July 24, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes in the new F1 movie is the ultimate sales maverick—talented yet rebellious. This article reveals how his journey from lone wolf to team player can guide you. Learn to harness your top producers’ integrity, turn rebels into mentors, or know when to cut ties for a stronger sales crew.
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10 Rules for Successful Sales Training and Revenue Growth
- March 17, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
The truth is that even the most media-rich, entertaining, engaging, memorable sales training can’t come close to holding people’s attention when compared to a series like “24.”
That’s why it is imperative that companies follow my top 10 rules for a successful sales training outcomes:
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10 Cringy Things Salespeople Do and 7 Reasons Why They Do It
- March 13, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force
Salespeople are responsible for a lot of cringy selling. In this article I share what I believe are the ten things salespeople do to elicit cringy reactions from their prospects and the top seven reasons for why half of all salespeople cause the cringe.
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Is BANT a Sales Process or a Man-Made Disaster?
- January 15, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
Last week, I noticed that people are still using this archaic and overly simplistic sales qualifying process, and too many are still writing about the benefits of BANT (Acronym for Budget, Authority, Need, Timing). The first page of a Google search revealed 10 articles were written about BANT in 2024 alone.
How is it that in 2024, people are still hailing BANT as a relevant sales tool?
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Timing – A Secret Key to Sales Success
- January 9, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Music and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
Timing is easy to recognize. When the timing is right anyone who calls can get a meeting scheduled. When the timing is bad, nobody who calls will get a meeting scheduled. Then there are all the occasions in the middle – the timing is neither good nor bad – where by asking the right questions and getting them to recognize they might have an issue you can help with, you do succeed at scheduling a meeting. These are the very meetings you want because early on, they aren’t talking with anyone other than you.
