Understanding the Sales Force

  • Coaching and The Truth About AI in Sales: Great at “Or,” Terrible at “And”
    • March 19, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Futuristic AI robot holding smartphone with neural network data and code in background, symbolizing strengths and limitations of AI in sales prospecting
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  • Why You Don’t Convert More Leads to Sales
    • March 17, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Professional strategist creating LinkedIn content on laptop, planning post formats like text, carousels, and video for 2026 algorithm success

    Learn how to optimize your LinkedIn presence in 2026: Choose the best content format (short posts, long-form, carousels, videos) using 8 variables like algorithm dwell time, goals, demographics, and effort. Sales leadership insights inside.

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  • Attention C-Suite! Revenue by Salesperson is Faulty Data
    • March 16, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    C-suite executives in boardroom analyzing faulty revenue by salesperson data with charts and trimmed mean insights to uncover hidden sales performance problems

    Attention C-Suite: Raw revenue by salesperson is often faulty data—like ignoring outliers in judging. Apply a trimmed mean lens to uncover hidden truths (inherited accounts, one-off deals), diagnose real effectiveness, and unlock 33% revenue growth via smart training & coaching.

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  • Why Only 27% of Salespeople Hear the Voice That Matters
    • March 12, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Salesperson hearing the prospect’s voice on a sales call – silencing distractions for better discovery

    Whose voice are you hearing when you’re on a sales call—yours, your coach’s, God’s… or your prospect’s? Most reps never hear the one that actually matters. Here’s why that’s killing their discovery, how the top 10% do it differently, and the simple move that turns you into the person who finally gets the buyer.

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  • Sound Check for Sales: 3 Best Practices That Need a 2026 Overhaul
    • March 12, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Dave Kurlan at a podium microphone doing a sound check for sales best practices, with speech bubble saying 'check, check, testing 123' – 2026 sales overhaul article header

    Sales closing is dead—time for a 2026 overhaul. Dave Kurlan shares why ‘finalizing’ replaces outdated closing, how fluid scoring and proper staging fix broken pipelines, and why buyer journeys need real discovery, not facilitation. No-BS tips to boost forecasts, shorten cycles, and win more.

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  • Mindset Matters: How the Songs in Your Head Shape Your Sales Success
    • March 9, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Confident B2B salesperson with positive and negative song titles floating around his head showing sales mindset

    What songs are playing in your head before a big B2B sales call? Discover how song titles shape your sales mindset — plus the exact Spotify playlist I use to get pumped and close more deals.

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  • Vultures or the Trusted Name in Sales Training?
    • March 2, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Cartoon vulture flying like an advertising blimp with a large banner across its side reading "Sales Training Options"

    Tired of Sandler, Challenger, SPIN, or Value Selling not delivering? Discover why companies turn to Baseline Selling after those methodologies fall short—and why it’s not vulturing, it’s expertise.

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  • Scarred for Life: Sales Lessons That Make Your Company Unstoppable
    • February 23, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Scarred for Life in Sales – sales lessons from Steely Dan, George Benson and a quadruple bypass

    When a Steely Dan tune came on the radio, it got me thinking about how they tried to be all things to all people — jazz chords, pure rock, easy listening — and ended up respected by no one. Same fate hit George Benson and Al Jarreau when they crossed over.
    One year after my quadruple bypass left me scarred for life, I realized sales has the exact same scars: chasing the wrong-size deals out of ego, staring at an empty pipeline, over-facilitating prospects, and misalignment with the real decision maker.
    Get properly scarred for life and those painful mistakes will never happen again.

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  • The Fatal Flaw that Causes Strong Salespeople to Strike Out
    • February 16, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Businessman in suit striking out at baseball plate with umpire making dramatic out sign, illustrating fatal flaw in strong salespeople

    Discover the hidden fatal flaw that turns strong, high-performing salespeople into strikeout artists. Even top hitters like Babe Ruth racked up Ks—same goes for sales pros who score too high on “Doesn’t Need Approval” without relationship-building skills. Don’t hire the danger zone combo.

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  • The Biblical Sales Force Part 7 – Blessed Are the Prospectors
    • February 9, 2026
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force
    Open Bible showing Matthew 5 with figurine of Matthew the Apostle wearing a modern phone headset and microphone, symbolizing biblical wisdom applied to sales prospecting and cold calling

    Does the Bible reward hard work and prospecting? Explore how diligence pays off in sales, with verses from Matthew, Proverbs, Torah, and Quran. Dave Kurlan shares 40+ years of insights.

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