Book Description
If you specialize in complex sales, the business-to-business transactions that involve multiple decisions made by multiple people from multiple perspectives, this is the book for you! It presents The Prime Process—a diagnostic, customer-centered approach that clearly sets you apart from your competition and positions you with respect and credibility as a valued and trusted advisor. If the stakes are high and you’re expected to win, this book will give you the edge you’ve been looking for.
Buy your copy today!
Customer Reviews:
Avoid unpaid consulting and become a leader not only a manager of the sales process.......2007-10-07
Jeff Thull is one of the 'fathers' of consultative selling and you really can't go wrong by reading and studying any of his books. This book is not only a primer on the subject but a resource that you'll find yourself going back to over and over again.
Business to Business Selling (B2B), that is complex, high dollar, capital intensive selling is different than the transactional sales of a Sandler, Tracey, or Hopkins. The long sales cycles and intense competitive pressures of complex sales require skills that move beyond techniques, closing, and relationship building. A salesperson must manage the sale through a long and involved process with an entire continuum of issues, stakeholders, and obstacles. As Thull says "we need to get beyond selling to managing decisions," "beyond problem solving to managing change," beyond meeting needs to managing expectations," beyond transactions to managing relationships," and "beyond reacting to managing clear communications." This book is the roadmap for doing those things.
In some ways this book moves past the idea of consultative selling because everyone claims to be doing that. Often customers don't have a rational or clear buying process themselves. Salespeople have to navigate these turbulent waters while preventing "unpaid consulting" and loosing to a competitor for unseen reasons. Thull offers constructive and timely advice on how to lead not simply manage, to drive change instead of being a victim of other people's processes.
"New Solution Selling" offers a better 'system' complete with tactical advice and forms to implement a complex selling process. However for important concepts and a philosophical sales foundation this book is a important read.
I have 37 years in sales...........2007-08-23
I am familar with many of the concepts and ideas in this book. I enjoyed the overview of the three eras of sales; particularly since I have lived thru them all! And, the fighter jet complex sale made me appreciate the less complex sales I work with day to day. I believe this is a good book for those new to the world of complex sales and provides a good overview upon which to build and increase your knowledge of the sales process.
Refreshing approach.......2007-08-15
Tired of the same old "wedge foot in door, give presentation then close" mentality? This manual offers a refreshing view of a better method for client management. If you feel your time and resources are too valuable to waste them putting the hard sell tactics on uninterested parties, purchase this book.
Good overview for beginners.......2007-04-10
This is the first book I have read that provides a good foundation for salesman who are beginners.
Develop an unfair advantage & truly differentiate your offering.......2006-09-14
Tremendous foundation of how to change the fundamentals, rules of engagement, the game and give yourself a wonderfully unfair advantage in business development that involves complex sales. Excellent read prior to reading Jeff Thull's other two (excellent) books, The Prime Process and Exceptional Selling, which get into more detailed tactics and how-to's. Consultative selling is not a way to differentiate yourself and your offering any longer. Most salespeople now use that approach. As Thull puts it, to truly differentiate yourself, you've got to be a diagnostic business developer. This book book will teach you if you how if you choose to implement the fundamentals of the Prime Process described. He makes the point that spectacular results always begin with unspectacular (unglamorous) preparation.
Book Description
In this path-breaking new book, best-selling author and leading go-to-market strategist Larry Friedman provides a practical and battle-tested approach for taking products, services, divisions, or even an entire company to market!
Drawing on dozens of examples and best-practices across a variety of industries, 'Go To Market Strategy' lays out a clear and actionable blueprint for building a winning go-to-market plan - one that will enable you to do more business, with more customers, more often, and more profitably.
In this book you'll find all of the techniques and tools you need to answer today's crucial go-to-market questions:
· Which markets offer the best opportunities for profitable growth?
· What do my target customers need? How can I do a lot more business with them?
· What mix of channels and partners will help me reach and sell to the most customers at the lowest possible cost?
· Do I have the right product or solution? How can I create broader customer interest in my offerings?
· Do I have a winning value proposition? What would make the 'message' more compelling - and drive more purchasing activity?
'Go To Market Strategy' is not about incremental change. As Friedman points out, it is for executives seeking nothing less than double-digit revenue growth and the slashing of at least 10-15 percent of selling costs - absolutely realistic results that go-to-market innovators have consistently achieved. This book lays out all of the techniques used by the world's top go-to-market leaders, so you too can achieve those kinds of results, and gain a real go-to-market competitive advantage in your markets.
New thinking from the author of 'The Channel Advantage'Offers ready made go-to-market strategic planning for any organizationPractical advice and a revolutionary strategic approach to creating and retaining customers using new technologies and new channel mixes for faster, more efficient routes to market.
Customer Reviews:
Great resource for entrpreneurs / small businesses.......2006-08-10
I strenuously disagree with the reviewer below who said this book is for big businesses rather than entrepreneurs. I'm an entrepreneur and this book has played an important role in my ability to build my business. A few years ago, a partner and I started a company and grew to 15 employees. We had a superb service to offer, but were not educated about how to sell it, and sales were leveling off. Stymied, we delved into atleast 20 books, seminars, and training events to learn how to "scale" our business. Honestly, nothing helped much. Then we found this book on Amazon. Go To Market Strategy helped us get organized, ask all the right questions, and put some simple ideas into use, to grow to 50 employees last month. After reading this book, we moved away somewhat from our "web fetish" and got much more serious about finding good partners, building our own small but effective sales group, and working with our customers to understand their needs and become more responsive. Many of the things we did came right out of this book. This book is *very* organized and systematic, breaking the sometimes overwhelming task of building a business into simple, proven tools which we were able to put to use. This book is also extremely well written, just lightyears ahead of the writing quality of other marketing books we bought. The author is very insightful and truly knows the ins and outs of "selling more stuff to more customers" as he puts it. I am sure this book is useful to Big Corporate America, but to me it's a wonderful resource for the small, struggling business.
Take your marketing to the next level!.......2006-05-07
Excellent marketing book by L. Freidman, who has written a few other good ones, too. Extremely interesting & helpful ideas, examples and tools for aligning your marketing strategies and your tactics with your customers. I see copies of this book floating around our and partners' offices all the time. Definitely worth reading and chewing on.
Very comprehensive and practical !!!.......2005-10-11
Author Friedman provides a very comprehensive picture of how to take products and services to market, in the most efficient and effective ways. This book is practical - it's more for sales management and marketing executives than for students and academicians. Going to market today is complex and risky, and difficult to figure out the right mix of people, channels (Internet, phone, mail, partners, etc). This book helps sort it all out in a well structured way. I highly recommend.
Very instructive for goers-to-market.......2005-09-08
Friedman gives the whole go-to-market strategy picture, explains the key points and relationships between different aspects of customer and market analysis, channel model construction, channel management etc. Can easily be used as a manual for actual go-to-market and channel development.
Misleading title draws wrong reader........2005-09-04
Friedman certainly seems to know what he's talking about. I wouldn't know since I ordered the book to learn about how to enter the market with a new product as a small entrepreneur. Friedman's advice is geared to the large corporation with large resources for research and marketing. He does not address the objectives stated in the title from the perspective and access to resources of the small business. For this type of reader the information may be interesting from a theoretical standpoint but I certainly found no practical advice to help my situation.
Book Description
Market-proven strategies to generate competitive advantage by identifying and always taking care of your best customers
The Seven Keys to Managing Strategic Accounts provides decision makers with a proactive program for profitably managing their largest, most critical customers--their strategic accounts. Drawing on the expertise of S4 Consulting, Inc., a leading-edge provider of strategic account consulting, and Miller Heiman, a global sales training leader serving many Fortune 500companies, this how-to book shows how many of today's market leaders have learned to focus on their most profitable customers, avoiding or overcoming common errors before they become relationship-crippling disasters.
Placing its total focus on the design and implementation of cost-effective strategic account management programs, this hands on book provides:
- A world-class competency model for strategic account managers
- Techniques for developing a program to manage and grow "co-destiny" relationships
- Examples and cases from Honeywell, 3M,and other leading corporations
Customer Reviews:
The Bible for Account Management.......2006-05-31
Over the last three years, we have been using "The Seven Keys..." as the bible to follow in our implementation process. Every person involved is required to read the book. It has become our organization's often-quoted bible for account management. A must read!
The Guide for Strategic Account Mangement.......2005-01-18
This is a very educational book that every company should read and buy into before attempting a SAM program. I enjoyed the real world exmaples even though they did sometimes leave me feeling a bit 'sold to'(and I usually like that!)
But the reason I've only given this book 4 stars is that it's written very much for the analytical reader, an MBA who absorbes information would love this book. But I am not one of those and would like to have seen a higher emotional content and some more human aspects.
This however should not stop you from buying this book. In fact if you are considering a Strategic Account Management program you MUST read this now.
Make sure you have a program that really worksý.......2003-09-16
In today's marketplace key account (relationship) management is imperative. With the ever changing/increasing demands placed on these accounts it is even more important to develop a focus and a strategic game plan behind them. This book is a must read and a must have on your bookshelf. It's laid out in a friendly manner (the seven keys) and is easy to read. Whether you currently have a strategic account management program in place, are looking at implementing a new program, or are looking how to fine-tune an existing one -- the 7 Keys to Managing Strategic Accounts will help you in the process. Make sure you have a program that really works!
Great Real-World Advice.......2003-06-12
As an MBA candidate who spends far too much time reading textbooks, I found Seven Keys a welcome change in my business reading. It's readable, well-organized, full of real-world examples, and it lets me quickly know how I can ready an organization for effective strategic account management. These authors clearly have busy people in mind. I read the chapters that were of particular interest and then I read the remainder. Time well-spent.
Jay Readey
MBA Candidate, Yale University School of Management
Common-Sense Guidance Just in Time!.......2003-05-08
We just launched what we thought was a
strategic account program for our largest
customers last year, but I just learned
from this book that it's actually a key
account program in disguise.
Now we can use the authors' common-sense
guidance to focus on the customers who
truly have strategic potential, align our
entire company behind the initiative instead
of just the sales force, and set up an
account manager development program that
really works. Great job!
David S. Feldmann
Product Manager, Legal & Business Products
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
Book Description
Create an effective, comprehensive communications strategy in an age of information overload
Fax, e-mail, 1-800 numbers, the Internet, infotainmentâwith so many new and traditional media available, it should be easy for a nonprofit to connect with its constituents. Yet each new technology brings new challenges, adding more messages, more voices, and more information to the clamor. Nonprofits now have to compete harder than ever to win the attention of a media-jaded public. That's why it is crucial that today's nonprofits develop comprehensive, coordinated communications plans that are detailed enough to cover all the bases, yet flexible enough to compensate for the unexpected. Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations shows you how.
In this book, Janel Radtke introduces all-important communications concepts and issues in plain English. Taking a wholly practical, in-the-trenches approach, she combines expert insights, real-life case studies, and clear, step-by-step instructions to demonstrate nonprofit communications strategies that work. She provides:
- An easy-to-follow, 7-step program for developing a comprehensive, multifaceted communications plan
- A disk containing all the worksheets, forms, surveys, and self-assessment tools you need to create a total communications plan
- Techniques for matching the message with the medium and for adapting both to specific purposes, such as fund-raising, advocacy, public education, PR, and more
Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations helps you coordinate and streamline communications efforts. It provides proven techniques for guaranteeing that you send the right message to each constituency group or audience, and that you hit your mark every time.
Customer Reviews:
Radtke hits the mark.......2000-12-04
Radtke takes a generally vague term "P.R" and makes specific, detailed entry ways that prove essential in the creation of a public relations framework. The text concentrates on breaking up tasks into manageable units from the creation of the perfect mission statement to completion of an internal audit. The internal audit is a great example of the way Radtke approaches every angle of the P.R. question; Radtke isn't just focused on demographics (or psychographics or geographics--all are explained here) or target audiences but she also encourages readers to investigate the inner workings of their specific organization. By examining the specific organization (from the number of phones to the personality of the staff) Radtke helps you design the most appropriate plan for your non-profit group. The accompanying C.D. helps you utilize the detailed models in the text and it's terribly easy to use, making the learning process much more fun. My only complaint would be that the information presented is a bit dense, making steady reading somewhat difficult. However, I reccomend Lawrence Wallack's straight forward "News for a Change" as an aid to Radtke's detailed vision. However, Wallack doesn't tackle as many issues as Radtke and her text still stands alone.
Book Description
Getting a public relations campaign or program off the ground can seem an overwhelming task. But, as with any project, the secret of success lies in good planning and effective management. This fully updated second edition of "Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns" provides a blueprint for all practitioners. It describes how to initiate and manage the ongoing development of a program in a structured way to benefit both the organization and its clients.
Customer Reviews:
Classical MBA litterature.......2000-07-06
In 1990 this book was revolutionary. Today, it is mostly interesting as the first book on the subject. Nobody in todays (business) world can have missed out on the concept that time is (or can be) a competitive advantage.
If you have missed this basic fact, do read this book, it explains in rather boring terms why it is so.
Personally I think they put to much emphasis on time as a competitive advantage, and tend to disregard other factors, equally important. A more relevant reading would in my opinion be D'Aveni's Hypercompetition, that takes the concept to its logical conclusion, which Hoult and Stalk misses.
Unfortunately, neither of the authors are very entertaining writers, especially as this book is usually mandatory/recommended reading in most MBA classes on strategy.
In conclusion, good, once revolutionary, but today mostly over-rated.
The Best Articulation of the Case for More Speed.......2000-05-21
Today's readers will think that this book is simply stating the obvious. That shows how much influence the book has had. Prior to the book's publication, most people felt that "getting things right" was more important than speed. This book points out that speed can actually be helpful in getting things right by encouraging you to improve your management processes so you do things right the first time.
Many companies have had trouble implementing this concept in the way it is articulated. They simplify their process, but may not improve it. This may mean that new products arrive in the market that are not really ready for the customers. That can be all right if you can quickly fine-tune the products in beta tests and the customers have that expectation because you are giving them so much benefit anyway. If you do this with me-too products that don't work, the results can be disastrous in terms of damage to your company's reputation and customer relationships.
The authors do not spend enough time on helping people understand how to improve their processes, and how to create more speed without killing stress on the people involved. For many companies, this book can be dangerous. I think this book could use a new edition that would address these two areas in more detail.
On the other hand, if you have any doubts about the potential benefits from speedier action, you should read this book. It will change your mind using excellent examples.
Have a speedy read!
superior insight on how to change a cost focus to time.......1999-09-23
Simply put, an oustanding book that has all the nuts and bolts needed to allow a company to transition to a time based focus from a cost based one. Easy to read, the logic is perfect. A must buy to have on your shelf (better yet ... on your desk). I read it first when I received my MBA ... read it again this last week .... and gave copies to top management I know around the country.
Average customer rating:
- save your money
- A Great Marketing Tool For You Too
- Excellent book!!!
- Take Your Business to the Next Level
- Spectacular Sales Insights: Could not put it down!
|
How Winners Sell: 21 Proven Strategies to Outsell Your Competition and Win the Big Sale
Dave Stein
Manufacturer: Bard Press (TX)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Systems & Planning
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Advertising
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Techniques
| Sales & Selling
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1885167555 |
Book Description
Sales master Dave Stein shows you how, in today's hyper-competitive marketplace, to outsmart your competition and close the big sales. His 21 strategies with lots of targeted tactics provide in the trenches advice on how to do your research, develop and qualify leads, keep your competition from gaining credibility, skillfully work inside politics, and much, much more.
Customer Reviews:
save your money.......2005-12-16
just rewritten sales drivel that everyone has heard a thousand times already
A Great Marketing Tool For You Too.......2003-12-22
I am sending over 150 copies of How Winners Sell to my better business clients as gifts this week, to help them be more successful, which may well help me (as their lawyer) be more successful.
If they get as much from the book as I did (and I'm not even in "sales") we'll all be Winners.
Excellent book!!!.......2003-12-02
If you have to read only 5 sales books in your entire life, this is one of you MUST read it.
Excellent ideas for beginners and seasoned sales rep.
Take Your Business to the Next Level.......2003-01-19
If you're struggling to win sales or even to get your foot-in-the-door, this book is well worth reading. David Stein clearly points out the major shifts occurring in today's marketplace and their impact on the sales environment. Essentially he states that what you learned about sales in the past isn't enough anymore - and it's time to retool your skills to get business in the new economy.
"How Winners Sell" is full of many useful strategies and tactics you can implement to:
- Differentiate yourself from the competition.
- Gain access to and have credibility at the executive level.
- Align your offering with your customer's critical business issues.
- Prepare high impact sales presentations or meeting.
- Generate significant add-on business.
As a sales consultant, I highly recommend "How Winners Sell" to my clients and anyone else who asks me about the best sales books to read. Stein's recommendations require a major time investment upfront - when you're not with the customer - but that is exactly what it takes to win sales today. If you're committed to being successful, buy this no-nonsense, easy-to-read book.
Jill Konrath
SellingtoBigCompanies.com
Spectacular Sales Insights: Could not put it down!.......2002-08-30
I have been a Sales Executive in the Corporate Training & Consulting Industry for 13 years,and have a bookshelf crammed with good books on the topic of improving your skills & results.
This book is "a cut above": especially for the seasoned professional who wants to consciously work on incremental gains. You know you win by a margin vs. a mile...the true stories, tips & tools in this "treasure trove" of a book provide a roadmap to winning important pieces of business.
Book Description
This book illuminates and clarifies the relationship between corporate image and corporate strategy. In his book the author urges businesses to recognize the fact that image is reality. It is necessary to create commercially useful corporate and brand images through identity and to design systems that drive all communications for maximum impact and cost effectiveness.
Book Description
Ten years ago, Up Against the Wal-Marts helped smaller businesses take on the corporate retailing empire. Now, with the giants bigger and more influential than ever, the underdogs have an even tougher struggle. The second edition of Up Against the Wal-Marts is here to help, with an updated focus on marketing and brand new ways to conquer (or at least co-exist with) the Goliaths of the shopping mall.
The authors have updated many of the businesses profiled in the original edition -- so readers can see how those companies have refined their operations to stay competitive -- and they detail the best practices of hundreds of successful small companies. The book also examines several fast-growth chains in a variety of markets. With advice for improving customer service and loyalty, maximizing the power of electronic marketing, hiring and keeping great employees, and more, Up Against the Wal-Marts is a formidable strategic tool any business can use to become (and remain) competitive.
Customer Reviews:
This book was probably helpful in 1994!.......2005-01-01
I can see that this book may have added value in 1994, but it is entirely out-dated at this point. The copywrite itself is from 1994, and the examples are dated back to that point. I am interested in seeing if the customer examples they list are actually still in business. Although I am sure they are, the techniques recommended in this book are only 1/2 the story for a modern day business. Perhaps the authors could update the book, with new statistics for the Wal-Mart's of the world, along with strategies to succeed on the Internet. It is a little strange to read a book that talks about how important it is to fax, and to trim phone bills by dialing after 11pm... as I said, this book is for the dinosaurs.
An MBA in a BOOK !!!!.......2004-01-15
I have no relationship with anyone connected with this book - it just sounds like I do. We stumbled across this book- and have now bought more than 12 copies for our key staff over three years. IT IS the BEST TRAINING BOOK for RETAIL MANAGERS I HAVE EVER SEEN. Whoops - sorry I get excited - but you get my point.
It is NOT about Wal-Mart - it is about being smart in operating your own business - and when you are smart - you have a much better chance of success.
Every chapter is solid with good info -- no fluff.
Try it
A Slingshot, But at Least it's Something.......2003-07-15
The Wal-Mart behemoth-beast's unchecked onslaught on our landscapes and local economies continues, but now there is more help to at least momentarily stymie the beast. With small victories here and there (the meatcutters' union win, for one, and that decision rendered right there in ARKANSAS, no less), this is one of the books that shows how we can be as good a friend to Wal-Mart as that it is to us, and we can learn from that very intelligent, mutating virus. This book helps a person think about retailing in the shadow of Wal-Mart the way an FBI profiler thinks about a criminal. It's not fighting fire with fire, but learning the weapons of the opponent and then thinking beyond them, to a more advanced level. It's an escalating fight. But it's a fight the little guy will win because Wal-Mart is now TOO big. The little guy is far more agile.
Learned about this book at sprawl-busters.com, a very helpful site (Al Norman's book is great as well!).
A Slingshot, But at Least it's Something.......2003-07-15
The Wal-Mart behemoth-beast's unchecked onslaught on our landscapes and local economies continues, but now there is more help to at least momentarily stymie the beast. With small victories here and there (the meatcutters' union win, for one, and that decision rendered right there in ARKANSAS, no less), this is one of the books that shows how we can be as good a friend to Wal-Mart as that it is to us, and we can learn from that very intelligent, mutating virus. This book helps a person think about retailing in the shadow of Wal-Mart the way an FBI profiler thinks about a criminal. It's not fighting fire with fire, but learning the weapons of the opponent and then thinking beyond them, to a more advanced level. It's an escalating fight. But it's a fight the little guy will win because Wal-Mart is now TOO big. The little guy is far more agile.
Learned about this book at sprawl-busters.com, a very helpful site (Al Norman's book is great as well!).
Remember the Spanish Armada.......2000-01-07
Don Taylor and Jeanne Smalling Archer explain how to prosper "in the shadow of the retail giants." This is quite literally a "how to" manual, filled with hundreds of specific examples, suggestions, strategies, and cautions which can be of substantial benefit to literally any small-to-midsize retail operation which is currently struggling to survive and then succeed. Of course, the David and Goliath metaphor is invoked. The co-authors stress the importance of courage, ten survival strategies, and "about 500 stones." (David needed only one well-placed stone. Today, he would need more "ammunition" because there are so many different "giants" to conquer. It is worth noting that David did not wrestle Goliath.) Interestingly, the "Big Three" (Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target) all opened their first stores in 1962. They were not the first discounters but they had learned a great deal from pioneers such as Ann and Hope, Korvettes, Zayres, Arlands, and Gibson's. Once "Davids" themselves, they eventually became "Goliaths", demonstrating (in process) the importance of the ten strategies which are examined in Up Against the Wal-Marts.
The authors organize the material according to three overriding themes: change, improve, and succeed. In the 1990s, change has been the only constant. Improvement is not an option; it is an imperative. With regard to success, the co-authors leave their reader with this final statement: "Many small businesses are going to be successful competing with the giants, and we can't think of any reason why yours shouldn't be one of them."
Books:
- Mastering the Digital Marketplace: Practical Strategies for Competitiveness in the New Economy
- Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win
- Mobile Media and Applications, From Concept to Cash: Successful Service Creation and Launch
- Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh (Cultural Icons series)
- Phrases That Sell : The Ultimate Phrase Finder to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas
- Phrases That Sell : The Ultimate Phrase Finder to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas
- Planned Giving: Management, Marketing, and the Law (Wiley Nonprofit Law, Finance, and Management Series)
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
- Principles of Marketing (Principles of Marketing)
- Principles of Marketing (Principles of Marketing)
Books Index
Books Home
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The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale
Exceptional Selling: How the Best Connect and Win in High Stakes Sales
Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale
Lead Generation for the Complex Sale: Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI
Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets
