Dave Kurlan’s Top 11 Sales Leadership Tips from 2013… So Far

Brought to you by InsightSquared

Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc. and Kurlan & Associates, Inc. He is both a top-rated speaker and author, having penned such titles as Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know About the Game of Baseball.

Dave also runs a blog, Understanding the Sales Force. We at InsightSquared are committed followers of his work. He recently published a blog post, listing his “Top 10 Sales Leadership Tips From 2013 – So Far”. We were so taken with this list that we made this presentation, to showcase his thought leadership.

One

It's not that cold calls don't work; it's that salespeople truly suck at making cold calls!

Two

It is stupid for salespeople to worry that asking more questions will cause them to appear dumb!

Three

While many successful salespeople have college degrees, salespeople never succeed because of their education.

Four

Most other "sales assessments" are marketing-modified versions of personality assessments.

Four

The actual findings are the same as on the standard personality tests, but the names or labels have been modified to sound as if they are sales findings.

Four

As with costumes, you only need to take off the mask and you'll see what's underneath. No exceptions. No apologies.

Five

The pipeline should be the single most accurate predictor of future revenue.

Six

Salespeople change in direct proportion to the availability of immediate coaching feedback from their sales managers.

Seven

Salespeople believe that to differentiate and add value, they must come in with the best pricing and it will make them a hero.

Seven

Unfortunately, it makes them just like everyone elseand there isn't much value in that.

Eight

Even if the data is sound, you would not be smart to target, recruit and select ambiverts! I guarantee that 74% of them will suck at sales too!

Nine

Difficult selling, with all of its challenges, leads to easy-to-achieve outcomes. Easy selling, while avoiding challenges, causes difficult-to-achieve outcomes.

Ten

Companies mislabel salespeople as top producers when the reality is that they're usually great account managers who've inherited the best territories.

Ten

It's often the less visible salespeople who are the best producers, bringing in new business, one deal at a time, but growing their revenue just the same.

Eleven

In many companies, some sales leadership categoriesare placed under the direction of people who aren't qualified to lead them.

Eleven

In other companies, there are huge gaps where some or all of the categories are missing.

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Photo Credits“Dave Kurlan portrait” Courtesy of kurlanandassociates“fireworks” Courtesy of baron valium“cold calling” Courtesy of mongo gushi“Student Raising Hand” Courtesy of UC Davis College of Engineering “Graduation” Courtesy of Andrew Schwegler“Masks” Courtesy of Garry Knight“Pipes” Courtesy of Michael Pereckas“Sean Bradley Coaches Dealers on Building Action Plans – Internet Sales 20 Group: Day 3” Courtesy fo DigitalRalph“Offa’s Dyke Walk 3 / black sheep” Courtesy of Andrew Fogg“Volume Levels” Courtesy of garysan97“Night Shift – Hard@Work (1of8)” Courtesy of cell105“Map ~ Pennsylvania Colony ~ 1777” Courtesy of e r j k p r u n c z y k“tea strainer” Courtesy of aesop“Salman Ahmad inspires the audience to sing and clap along” Courtesy of M. Elizabeth Williams, Girl + Camera LLC, and TEDx NJLibraries