Understanding the Sales Force
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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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From the Vault – 130 Additional Articles on Sales and Sales Leadership
- June 26, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Politics and Sales, Sales Compensation, Sales Pipeline and Forecast, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
I discovered more than 125 articles that were published in various magazines over the years, many of them in Top Sales Magazine, where I have been a regular contributor for more than 15 years, as well as Selling Power, TED Magazine, Smart Selling and others. They are listed in no particular order, with links (as they become available) to each article. Most are shorter articles – 400 or 800 words – than those I write for Understanding the Sales Force and some go back to 20006. Come back often as more links are added every day!
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The Great AI Sales Clone Experiment (And Why Most Reps Are Striking Out)
- June 23, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Sales Pipeline and Forecast, Understanding the Sales Force
When every salesperson uses the same ChatGPT and Claude prompts, they all sound exactly the same. Prospects spot it immediately. Here’s why real coaching beats AI shortcuts and how to actually get better.
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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 Most Companies Get Sales Team Structure Wrong
- June 6, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Most companies overcomplicate sales team structure with too many roles and expensive BDR teams. Discover why simplifying to Hunters + Account Managers, fixing channel sales, and addressing weak management + infrastructure delivers far better results.
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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.
