- January 21, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Plato and other great teachers throughout history have understood that an analogy can be the most effective way to convey an important message. Analogies couch something unfamiliar or difficult to grasp in a familiar framework around which we can wrap our heads. Now, I don’t claim to be Plutonian, but I do think that analogies are a great tool for helping people understand my particular area of expertise – sales.
In keeping with that, I’ve created a series of some of my better analogies in the hope that they provide some of those “ah-ha” moments which are so valuable to improving your sales force.
Why Salespeople Need to Negotiate and 10 Other Timely Sales Lessons
The Crucial Step Missing from Most Sales Training
The Real Reason Why So Many Salespeople are So Bad at Selling
3 Steps You Must Take Today to Save Your Company From This Economic Downturn
Is Your Sales Force More Like a Dunkin’, Starbucks or Panera Drive Thru?
What Sales Organizations Must Learn from the Impeachment Hearings
Are You Using This New Technology to Generate New Opportunities?
New Data Reveals a Magical New Score for Sales Effectiveness
A Tale of 3 Squirrels and Their Human Counterparts in Sales
Masks and Sales Assessments – You Lose a Little Freedom and Control for Safety and Confidence
How the Correlation Between Restaurants and Covid 19 Applies to Sales Assessments
Data Shows Your Sales Team is No Different Than Your Lawn
Most Companies Can Boost Sales From 30-100% in Just One to Two Years
FDR and Sir Isaac Newton on Why Salespeople Fail
FOX News and CNN Can Help You Conduct Better Sales Opportunity Reviews
3 Selling Characteristics for the Age of Covid, Politics and Recession
The Problem with Having Crappy Sales Managers
New Data Shows an Overlooked Findings Correlates to Sales Success
Senate Confirmation Hearings Show us What Salespeople Do Wrong Every Day
Difference Between OMG and Extended DiSC
How Pitchers’ Fielding Practice is Exactly the Same as Salespeople Role-Playing
Two Selling Strategies That Are More Effective Than Facts and Figures
New Movie Has 3 Great Lessons for Salespeople and Sales Managers
Put a Little Beatles into Your Selling
The Nutcracker in 2020 and 3 Critical Lessons for End of the Year Selling
My Dog Has Better Listening Skills Than Most Salespeople
How a Mug of Dunkin’ Can Help You More Effectively Sell Value
31 Signs That Your Sales Opportunity is in Trouble
Are Assessments as Evil as the Movie Persona Would Have You Believe?
Sales is Like Baseball and Baseball Can Save Capitalism and Liberty
Is Your Sales Force More Like a Dunkin’
Panera or Starbucks Drive Through?
How Coyotes are at the Heart of Sales Motivation
Preppers – Who They are and What They Share with Elite Salespeople
Breaking News – More Salespeople Suck Than Ever Before (and Why)
School of Rock the Musical Demonstrates Selling to Existing Customers and Customer Service
The Importance of Resiliency in Sales and Selling
You’re Afraid to Sell Because You Think There is Hope
Leading a Sales Force is Even More Like Baseball – What Should it Cover and Include?
Sales Success is Like Making Great Tasting Soup – What Should it Cover and Include?
The Biggest Secret of Salespeople that Rock
Solitaire and Modern Sales Training – What Should it Cover and Include?
Sales Managers are Sometimes Like Cashiers
Baseball, Sales Cycles, and the Quest for Shorter
Top 10 Mistakes Salespeople Make on the Phone (Funny Read)
Rejection: Does Selling Cause More Anxiety Than Dating?
Leads are Making Salespeople Lazier than Old Golden Retrievers
United Airlines Uses Customer Service This Way to Impact Sales
Fine Tune Your Sales Force as You Optimize Your Computer
How Stealing 2nd Base is the Secret to Today’s Success in Sales
What the Sales World Can Learn from Marathon Participants
Great Salespeople See the Pixels, The Rest Watch the Movie
How the Landscape for Salespeople Changes Quickly
View From the Top – When Salespeople Call on Purchasing
To Salespeople Demos and Presentations are Like Snack Food
Music and Selling – There are Many More Similarities than You Think
How Selling is Just Like Driving a Car
Sales Coaching Lessons from the Baseball Files
Basketball and the Difference Between Sales Studs and Sales Duds
Illuminate and Dust Off Your Sales Force
Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and the Sales Assessment Industry
Gaining Sales Traction is Like Talking to Kids
How to Use Playlists to be More Effective at Selling
Sales Strategy and Tactics – Thoughts from the Super Bowl
Great Sales Management Advice from Football’s Greatest
Get Your Sales Force to Perform Magic and Watch the Sales Appear
Penn State Football Coach Just Like Dysfunctional Sales Management
The Nutcracker – Only 11% of Salespeople Do This at the End of a Sales Call
What Meteorologists Have in Common with Salespeople
How Gift Giving Mirrors the Sales Process
Leaving Their Comfort Zone- Salespeople Are Like Children
Election Day Like Decision Making Day for A Sales Opportunity
My Sales Process, Strategies and Tactics in Your Voice
Running the Bases – The Single Biggest Mistake Sales People Make
Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow Could Be Your Veteran Salespeople
Professional Sales and the All-Star Jazz Performance
Weight Loss-How it Compares with Improved Sales Performance
Derek Jeter Shows Us How to Convert Leads to Opportunities
Lance Armstrong’s Metrics Applied to Sales
Putting for Eagle: Going for the Unlikely Close
The Sales Management Equivalent to Baseball’s Pitch Count
Sales Effectiveness by Borrowing from Best Ball Tournaments
Salespeople Aren’t Made of Glass
A Toasted Bagel and 5 Minutes to Understand the Impact of Sales Training
Would Henry Ford be Able to Sell Cars Today?
Speed Limits, the Flow of Traffic, and Sales Pipelines
Examples of How Salespeople Lose Credibility with Their Prospects
How the Cheesecake Factory Menu Can Make You a Better Closer
Latest Data Shows Most Salespeople Would be Fired or Arrested if they Worked in Accounting
Would You Like to be Selling Guns Right Now?
What Salespeople Can Learn from Josh McDaniels Gutsy Reversal
It’s OK for Salespeople to Lie When This Happens
Why Do Salespeople Use Facts and Logic to Combat Objections?
How Salespeople Must Run Stop Signs and Red Lights – Legally
Grammar – Why Commas Provide Sales Success Where Periods Fail
Predict the Weather but Control the Sales Forecast and Revenue
Successful Movie Franchises and the 10 Keys to Impactful Sales Coaching
The Most Successful Negotiation is The Negotiation That Isn’t Needed
The Top 15 Sales and Sales Leadership Articles of 2019
What Sales Organizations Must Learn from the Impeachment Hearings
Good Sales Recruiting is Like Selecting Movies and TV Shows
New Data Reveals a Magical New Score for Sales Effectiveness
A Tale of 3 Squirrels and Their Human Counterparts in Sales
How Sales Coaching Utilizes a Quid Pro Quo
Sales Process and Why So Many Salespeople Lose Their Way
Using the Most Powerful Sales Tool to Get What You Want
How to Transform Your Sales Pipeline Today
Putting Some Hollywood into Your Sales Presentations
Your Last Chance to Make a Good First Impression
10 Reasons Why Salespeople Hallucinate
Using the Power of a Duracell to Help You Hire Perfect Salespeople
How the Rubber Band Sabotages Sales Performance
How to Use the Your Experience with Turbulence to Overcome Resistance
The Top 8 Requirements for Becoming a Great Salesperson
How Getting Feedback and Making Adjustments are the Keys to Sales Improvement
Last Day Madness on the Sales Force – That’s One Kind of Urgency
How I Realized That Selling is Just a Bunch of Crap
The Top 12 Factors that Cause Delayed Closings and What to Do About Them
Elite Salespeople are 26 Times More Effective at This Competency Than Weak Salespeople
Sales Playbook and CRM Problems – What the Data Tells Us
10 Reasons Why Parents of Toddlers Make Better Sales Coaches Than Sales Managers
What Happens When You Force a Square Sales Peg into a Round Sales Hole?
Would You Like to be Selling Guns Right Now?
