Sales DNA Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Kurlan & Associates

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.

Sales 102 – The Pitch Deck, the Price Reduction and the Data

September 29, 2016
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

Recently I met with a CEO whose salespeople were not closing enough business. We had just evaluated their sales force and I had the answers as to why their sales were so underwhelming. Before we could explain what was causing their problem, the CEO said something along the lines of, “We are going to create a new pitch deck and reduce our prices. That will solve the problem!”

They weren’t suggesting a small price change either. It sounded like an 80% reduction and their reasoning overlapped with one of the contributing issues that we identified. Their salespeople weren’t reaching decision makers which raises more questions. Why weren’t they reaching decision makers and could anything be done about it? Would lowering their prices solve the problem or did the issue go deeper than that?

How March Madness Applies to Salespeople and Your Sales Force

March 18, 2016
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Analogies, Understanding the Sales Force

You have a choice – be part of the elite 7%; be part of the strong 16% or be part of the crappy 77%.

The Importance of Resiliency in Sales and Selling

April 22, 2015
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Books, Movies, Theater and Television, Understanding the Sales Force

We saw Paul Blart – Mall Cop 2 and laughed a grand total of twice. It was inept comedy, a horrible sequel and a terrible movie. Despite that, it was a great example of resiliency as Blart is continually rejected, stopped, ridiculed and put-off, only to ignore those events, bear down and try even harder to accomplish his goals. From that perspective, the movie, and Kevin James, succeed at demonstrating what it is like to be a salesperson.

Does Efficiency or DNA Help to Increase Sales?

July 24, 2014
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

The Salesforce Blog published a new article of mine today – Read How to Create Perfect Sales Conditions. It’s really an article about how to use tools and efficiency to increase your focus and sales. Speaking of efficiency, Kyle Dougherty, from Prialto, sent me this very cool video today. Talk about a tool that helps you to be efficient!

Science and the Length of Your Sales Cycle

October 9, 2013
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Categories: Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force

A really important factor is exactly what salespeople actually believe – what they think – relative to the sales cycle. Read some of the beliefs that this sales force had around the sales cycle:

Those two factors alone are enough to double the length of a sales cycle! There are still 9 more factors that have an impact; however, just from what we’ve discussed and reviewed so far, it’s obvious that this company’s sales cycle is M-U-C-H longer than it needs to be.