Junk Sales Science Debunked
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Magazine Discredits Their “Born to Sell” Article with Junk Science
- October 25, 2024
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
They identified five areas where those with genetic traits outperform others. They claim that those are:
Tailor Your Approach
Conduct a Sales Debrief
Refine Your Skills Through Practice and Experimentation
Use Data Analytics to Inform Your Decision Making
Invest in Ongoing Training and MentorshipOther than number 2 (of course we’re singling out #2 in an article that’s full of crap!), the other four are not sales or marketing specific but are simply common-sense goals for anyone interested in self-improvement.
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The Wall Street Journal Shares News About What it Takes to Succeed in Sales
- November 14, 2022
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
I’m not anti-Wall Street Journal – at least I wasn’t. I haven’t written about their articles before. After all, they aren’t known for writing the kind of crap that the Harvard Business Review writes with regard to sales and selling.
While reviewing the article, I identified two themes – how much harder it is to sell today versus years ago and how millennials have adapted to changing times.
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How Many Authors Does it Take to Screw in a LightBulb Highlighting Selling Skills?
- September 22, 2022
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
Dan Caramanico alerted me to this dubious September 19, hbr.com article that explains their 5 Skills Every Salesperson Needs to Succeed. It took three consultants to screw in the lightbulb that illuminates their five stupid-as-shit skills so let’s take a look:
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10 Sales Attributes That Don’t Differentiate Top Salespeople from Bottom Salespeople
- September 12, 2022
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Junk Sales Science Debunked, Understanding the Sales Force
I’ve written several articles (same as always) about OMG (Objective Management Group) Tailored Fits/Proofs of Concept where I analyze the differences between a company’s top producers and bottom producers to identify the findings/scores that differentiate their tops from their bottoms. That is the science of sales performance and sales selection and the last time I wrote about it was in this article from February of 2022. For comparison, the most recent example of a blowhard writing junk science without being scientific about what top salespeople do differently can be found in this article from August of 2022.
Today’s article (new article) will go in the opposite direction and discuss strengths and skills that don’t differentiate tops from bottoms.
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Not The Top 20 Attributes of Successful Salespeople
- August 1, 2022
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Best Top 10 Lists, Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
The article was 100% junk science and to use the word science would be a disservice to the word junk. Below, you’ll find five reasons why this article was so wrong, so bad, so misleading, so pitiful, and just plain stupid:
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The Best Solutions for Hiring Great Salespeople for Your Company
- August 28, 2020
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Junk Sales Science Debunked, Understanding the Sales Force
These are all examples of inappropriate solutions to the simple question, “What is the best way to get there from here?”
How about the simple question, “What is the best way to assure that the salespeople I am about to hire will succeed in the chosen role?”
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21,000 People Agree That These are the Top 5 Traits of the Best Salespeople
- February 24, 2017
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Best Top 10 Lists, Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
Readers are always referring me to articles that list top sales traits, that discuss what makes salespeople great, that name the most important selling skills, or that otherwise contradict the science-based findings and statistics that I share in my articles.
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Why Do You Think That Harvard Business Review Does This When it Comes to Sales?
- November 18, 2016
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Understanding the Sales Force
The most recent example of Harvard Business Review and sales stupidity came earlier this month when they ran an article on social selling being the solution to prevent salespeople from becoming obsolete. I wrote this article on LinkedIn bring it to light and differentiate fact from fiction.
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What is the Single Biggest Differentiator Between Top and Bottom Salespeople?
- October 3, 2016
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
There is one Blog that I never fail to read, and that’s Seth Godin’s Blog. Seth doesn’t write about sales – he pens a thought leadership Blog – but sometimes his articles are very applicable to sales and selling. Recently, he posted two very short articles – each is less than 30 seconds to read and I believe they are both well worth your time.
The first is Fully Baked. The second, on a related topic, is Skills vs. Talents.
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HBR or OMG – Whose Criteria Really Differentiate the Top and Bottom 10% of Salespeople?
- August 22, 2016
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Junk Sales Science Debunked, Sales Assessments Compared, Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
In their June 20, 2016 article, A Portrait of the Overperforming Salesperson, HBR identified several traits, attitudes and actions that they claim differentiate the top from bottom performers. I’ll summarize it for you below and then explain why I believe it is junk. The findings include:
