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Dave Kurlan

About Dave Kurlan

Dave is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc. (OMG), the leader in sales candidate assessments and sales force evaluations, and named the Top Sales Assessment Tool from 2011-2016. He is also CEO of Kurlan & Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm specializing in sales force development, and named three times to the Inc 5000.

10 Keys to Solving the Sales Performance Issue

13 May 2014 by Dave Kurlan

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Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership

10 Sales Coaching Examples

24 July 2014 by Dave Kurlan

Consider these nuances when it comes to some of the individuals whom I coach: TG needs to talk for the first 20 minutes before I can provide 10 minutes of powerful coaching. DD wants only one question answered in each session and wants to get off the phone ASAP. KY needs just one takeaway to… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Coaching

10 Types of Sales Advisers and How to Choose the One That’s Best For You

30 July 2014 by Dave Kurlan

I’ll bet you know plenty about agreements, contracts, and legal compliance in your industry. You probably know enough about accounting, taxes and audits to get by too.  And I bet you know your way around insurance, investments and real estate. Despite all of that knowledge, I’m certain you have a great corporate attorney, corporate accountant, insurance… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Training

13 Most Important Tools for Coaching Salespeople

2 September 2014 by Dave Kurlan

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Filed Under: Article, Sales Coaching

After Inbound 14 – Anatomy of a Hybrid Sales & Marketing Role

24 September 2014 by Dave Kurlan

Last week, when speaking on the Inbound Stage at Inbound14, my topic was Hiring for the Inbound Sales Role.  I asked the question, “Is this a sales or a marketing role?” The audience desperately wanted this to be a hybrid – someone who could do both the marketing and the sales.  Unfortunately, a hybrid role… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Recruitment & Retention

Are Sales and Sales Management Candidates Getting Worse?

22 September 2014 by Dave Kurlan

There are more sales experts, self-professed and otherwise, than ever before.  There is more free content on sales and selling than anyone could have imagined.  There are probably twice as many books on the subject than just 10 years ago.  There are categories of sales tools and CRM applications where none existed a few years… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Recruitment & Retention

Bigger Sales Pipelines – The Dangerous Truth

8 August 2016 by Dave Kurlan

I usually get notified when new sales studies are published and I’m asked to link to those reports from my Blog. Recently, I was invited to download the 2016 InsideSales.com Business Growth Index Report.  I read through it and while I wasn’t terribly surprised by anything, there were a few findings that are quite interesting, showing that some companies aren’t… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Pipeline Management

Finding the Right Sales and Sales Management Candidates

11 June 2014 by Dave Kurlan

I read this terrific post from our friends at New-Hire.com about the best sources for candidates in general.  It certainly applies to sales candidates as well.  Not only are the best sources a moving target, but the candidates themselves can be looked at the same way. Five years ago, we may have started with Monster.com, two… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Recruitment & Retention, Sales Leadership

Fine Tune Your Sales Force as You Optimize Your Computer

2 July 2014 by Dave Kurlan

I love my Macbook Pro.  It’s four years old which means I’ve had it for three years longer than any Windows laptop I ever owned.  That said, it was beginning to underperform, slow down, and choke.  Yesterday, at around 4 AM, I decided to regroup and deal with those issues.  First, I evaluated the problem,… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership, Sales Training

How Important is it for Your Salespeople to Practice?

11 May 2012 by Dave Kurlan

When I was much younger, I was a pretty good trumpet player, playing professionally for nearly 10 years. I took weekly lessons from the age of 9, played in multiple bands and orchestras, and when I wasn’t taking lessons or performing, I practiced. And I felt I should have practiced more; a lot more. I… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership

How to Apply the Coaching Outcomes from Sports to Sales

19 February 2020 by Dave Kurlan

There are five major team sports including my favorite, baseball, as well as football, soccer, hockey, and basketball. Whether led by a head coach or manager, there are coaching consistencies across all five sports. Coaches observe and coach players on areas of improvement during every practice, before and after practice, and during games. This coaching… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Coaching, Sales Leadership

How to Assure Sales Success Instead of Causing Sales Failure

4 March 2019 by Dave Kurlan

Does this sound familiar? You have a good opportunity, you expected it to close by the end of the year, it didn’t, you offered a discount, it still didn’t, you still think it will, but you can’t get them to pull the trigger. This scenario happens more frequently than you can imagine. There are several… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership

How Would These Sports Celebrities Perform in Sales?

27 October 2014 by Dave Kurlan

I wrote a very serious post earlier this week where I had the nerve to bring God into the conversation.  I thought it was appropriate because the biggest and most important take-away from that article was about being inspired and inspiring others. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, I think The Biggest Secrets… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Coaching, Sales Leadership

Illuminate and Dust Off Your Sales Force

18 April 2020 by Dave Kurlan

Have you ever noticed that the inside of your car can appear perfectly clean and then, if the sun hits the dashboard just right, all of the glass and plastic windows, radio, navigation, dials and displays are filthy dirty with dust? Have you ever noticed the same thing in your home, apartment or office?  The air looks clear, but when… Read More

Filed Under: Appraisals, Article, Sales Leadership

Most Salespeople are Wrong about the Concept of Being Willing to Walk

16 February 2017 by Dave Kurlan

At some point in most training programs we talk about being willing to walk away.  In addition to being part of a Kurlan led sales training program, the willingness to walk away is a major focus of any training program on negotiation as well.  But most people in sales don’t understand the concept of being willing to walk,… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Motivational Management, Sales Leadership, Sales Training

My Top 21 Keys to Help Your Sales Force Dominate Today

14 July 2014 by Dave Kurlan

I’ve seen this happen in youth baseball so many times.  Let’s say it’s a ground ball and the third baseman boots it for an error.  Of course, the next ball is hit right at the third baseman again and this time he fields it cleanly, but makes an error on the throw.  And just as… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership

Sales Force Development – Is it Training?

22 October 2015 by Dave Kurlan

What is Sales Force Development all about? Sales training? Coaching? Sales Force Automation? Sales Selection? Sales Assessments? Compensation? Incentives? Performance? Sales Management Effectiveness? Mapping the Sales Process? Documentation? Having a Play Book? More? While it’s all of those things and more, its primary focus is the company’s strategies for growing sales, whether they are the right… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership, Sales Team Development

Sales is the Answer

6 September 2019 by Dave Kurlan

Hang in there – this will be an article on sales but you need to get through the big set up. A US candidate for President in 2020 spoke at a recent Walmart shareholders meeting and criticized the company for not paying higher wages.  He said that a company owned by the wealthiest family in the… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Recruitment & Retention, Sales Leadership

Sales Pipeline Nazi Summoned to Get Sales Forecasts Right

13 March 2014 by Dave Kurlan

While writing this article, the Northeast corner of the US was being walloped by yet another snowstorm, which in this case, was very accurately forecast.  At the same time, the first email I saw today had a link to a very funny video – a spoof of a Pipeline Review being run by Hitler.  Here… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Pipeline Management, Sales Forecasts

Sales Pros! 10 Things You Must Do Before Leaving for Summer Vacation

23 September 2015 by Dave Kurlan

Are you going to the beach? On a sail? On a tour? To another country? To a lodge? To a resort?  Regardless of your destination or purpose, make sure you bring some good books, disconnect from your email and social networks, and actually use the time to recharge. That’s good old common sense. But if you… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Pipeline Management

Second Secret to Sales Force Excellence

11 November 2014 by Dave Kurlan

Last week, I revealed the first secret success ingredient from our Sales Force Effectiveness Study.  Today, before I reveal secret #2 I need to take care of a two important promos: Our new White Paper, The Modern Science Behind Sales Force Excellence is available today – Download it here. John Pattison wrote his first article for the… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership, Sales Training

Solitaire and Modern Sales Training – What Should it Cover and Include?

8 October 2014 by Dave Kurlan

I’ve been playing one of those Solitaire games on my iPad and I can routinely score in the neighborhood of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, with my best time being just under 2 minutes.  I thought I was doing pretty well until I realized that my wife routinely scores between 1 minute and 1:20 seconds… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Training

Starting with the Sales Management Team – Is it a Bad Decision?

26 August 2014 by Dave Kurlan

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Filed Under: Article, Sales Leadership

The Biggest Sales Skill Gap of Them All

19 June 2014 by Dave Kurlan

What’s the most crucial skill in cooking or baking? I would suggest that it’s recipe creation. Get it wrong and it doesn’t matter how skilled one is at mixing ingredients, cooking time, or plate presentation; the meal will still suck. What’s the most crucial skill in construction? I would suggest it’s the ability to take… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Training

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