From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call by Richard M. Schroder - Book review

From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call

Close More by Doing What You Do Best

By: Richard M. Schroder

Published: October 2010
Format: Softcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0071718117
ISBN-13: 9780071718110
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional












"Understanding why a deal is won or lost is critical, yet most salespeople have little (if any) understanding of the true reasons for winning and losing" writes recognized thought leader in win-loss analysis and sales training, and President of Anova Consulting Group, Richard M. Schroder in his opportunity creating and game changing book From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call: Close More by Doing What You Do Best. The author describes how to develop and utilize an effective debriefing process to provide detailed analysis about why sales were really closed or lost.

Richard M. Schroder recognizes that all too often salespeople leave a prospect not ever knowing why the sale was never completed. Most sales representatives, and even their sales managers, simply move on to the next prospect, seeking the next sale. What is not understood by the sales team is that the same mistakes can be repeated over and over again, resulting in even more lost closing opportunities. Richard Schroder provides a comprehensive system for re-examining the lost sale to analyze what went right, and also to determine what also went wrong. This debriefing process provides the sales person with deeper insights into their own sales strategy, helping them to continue using the techniques that worked well. At the same time, and perhaps even more importantly, the debriefing concept will uncover mistakes that can be corrected and avoided in future sales presentations.



Richard M. Schroder (photo left) understands that all sales representatives possess strengths and weaknesses that vary from person to person. Without a thorough assessment of these strengths and weaknesses, the salesperson will never move past the status quo position of the potential customer. For Richard Schroder, the status quo is as much of a competitor for sales representatives as the products and services offered by another company. Richard Schroder presents a logical step by step procedure, for learning the real reasons, that goes far beyond the features and benefits of the product or service. The author seeks to uncover the much more important relationship between the buyer and the seller. For the authoor, a good salesperson solves an important problem for the customer through open and honest discussion. The book focuses on the critical relationship between the salesperson and the customer, and not on the technical mechanics of the sales process.

For me, the power of the book is how Richard Schroder describes the crucial factor of open and honest communication between the seller and the buyer. Unlike many other sales books that teach tactics and techniques, the author helps the sales person build a positive and open sales conversation. Should the sale fall through without completion, Richard Schroder provides a complete debriefing process to uncover the real reasons for the failed sale. Since this debriefing concept is important, the process must be conducted using the best practices and proper etiquette. The book contains valuable chapters on how to debrief the client honestly and with mutual respect. Through the procedure outlined by Richard Schroder, honest feedback can be obtained, and mistakes can be avoided in the future.

I highly recommend the unique and insightful book From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call: Close More by Doing What You Do Best by Richard M. Schroder, to anyone involved in sales from entrepreneurs, to sales representatives, to sales managers who are serious about understanding what really went right and wrong in a sales conversation. This book enters into the seldom discussed, but extremely important, area of the post-sales conversation debriefing process.

Read the sales building and very practical book From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call: Close More by Doing What You Do Best by Richard M. Schroder, and discover the best practices for utilizing the sales debriefing concept. The book contains all of the tools and ideas necessary to design, develop, and utilize the very valuable debriefing procedure. The end result will be more closed sales, a much more effective sales team, and many more satisfied customers.

Tags: From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call: Close More by Doing What You Do Best, Richard M. Schroder, enhanced sales techniques, business book reviews.

Use What You Have To Get What You Want by Jack Nadel

Use What You Have to Get What You Want

100 Basic Ideas That Mean Business

By: Jack Nadel

Published: February 1, 2011
Format: Perfect Paperback, 128 pages
ISBN-10: 0984628207
ISBN-13: 978-0984628209
Publisher: JNJ Publisher







"The American Dream is best when shared by many", writes recognized world leader in the worldwide sales promotion industry, and founder of Jack Nadel International, Jack Nadel in his engaging and wisdom filled book Use What You Have to Get What You Want: 100 Basic Ideas That Mean Business. The author shares the truisms that he not only discovered and championed, but also lived by in his highly successful sixty-five year career as a global product creator and marketer.

Jack Nadel doesn't simply repeat the usual tired business homilies from rote. He shares the concepts in this delightful book from his heart. Each of the ideas presented is based on the author's vast experience in the real world of global business. The result is a book of proven advice that will benefit any business person achieve success in the real world. Jack Nadel starts his business journey with a recommendation of a change in attitude to one of success of achievement. For the author, without a true deeply held belief and conviction that success is not only possible, but will definitely happen, success will remain elusive. The author not only encourages reading the aphorisms, but internalizing them to become part of the business person's inner belief system. With these ideas becoming part of the business person's personal and company DNA, then success will follow.



Jack Nadel (photo left) learned his business concepts through real world experience. When discharged from the US Army Air Corps as a decorated veteran in 1946, the author lacked both money and formal education. What he did possess was drive, conviction, and a belief that business success was not only possible, but inevitable. What jack Nadel learned over his decades of business life was that good business is also fair and ethical business. business success is more than creating good products and making money. Those are only the outcome of business practices based on ensuring that everyone benefits from every transaction. Good products and services mean very little if the business person and organization lack integrity. A successful business person, writes the author, also expresses humility and recognizes that there is always more to learn, and that there will always be others who possess more knowledge and experience in any aspect of business or of life. The author also recognizes that a successful and sustainable business depends, not only on having great people, but also in helping those employees take pride in their work. For Jack Nadel, the guiding principles of honesty, ethics, and sharing the American Dream extend to everyone within and outside of the organization.

For me, the power of the book is how Jack Nadel summarizes his sixty-five years of business experience into a very enjoyable book that expresses his philosophy very well. Along with the philosophical basis for his convictions, the author also shares some very important concepts for operating a successful business. What is really unique about Jack Nadel's blending of the practical with the philosophical, is how the two schools of thought are entwined into one consistent whole. For Jack Nadel, it's not enough to just conduct business. It's critical that one live the ideals of the business as well. For the author, one cannot survive without the other. In this yin and yang concept of business, true success is not achievable if one or the other element is missing from the personal and organizational vision.

I highly recommend this beautiful and timeless gem of a book Use What You Have to Get What You Want: 100 Basic Ideas That Mean Business by Jack Nadel, to anyone who is truly interested in achieving complete success in their business and in their life. The author discards completely the idea that making money or creating good products constitutes success. In place of that incomplete vision, Jack Nadel proposes a holistic and completely internalized system where a belief in principle and action work together to reach the pinnacle of success.

Read the wonderful and idea packed book Use What You Have to Get What You Want: 100 Basic Ideas That Mean Business by Jack Nadel, and put the author's sixty-five years of business experience to work for you. This action oriented book will help to create a vision of the American Dream that benefits everyone.

Tags: Use What You Have to Get What You Want: 100 Basic Ideas That Mean Business, Jack Nadel, business philosophy, business book reviews.

William Davidow: Overconnected: The Promise & The Threat Of The Internet - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



High technology industry executive, venture capitalist and author of the thought provoking and insightful book OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, William H. Davidow, describes how the explosive growth of the internet has also created some unique hazards. With everyone being connected to the point of perhaps being overconnected there are serious challenges being created for government, business, social institutions, and entire economies. Along with the benefits of being connected, being overconnected creates systems with excessive feedback leading to greater volatility and potential for accidents. William Davidow places the potential dangers of overconnection into a unique historical and real world perspective, and offers suggestions to prevent possible future problems.

William Davidow is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, March 3, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

High technology industry executive, venture capitalist and author of the thought provoking and insightful book OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, William H. Davidow, describes how the explosive growth of the internet has also created some unique hazards. You will learn:

* Why the Internet is accident prone due to being so interconnected

* Why everything being connected to everything poses a real societal risk

* How the systemic feedback accelerated the Icelandic financial meltdown

* How the Internet can be made less volatile and pose less risk to everyone



William H. Davidow (photo left) has been a high-technology industry executive and a venture investor for more than 30 years. He has been directly involved in building pivotal companies in Silicon Valley including FormFactor, MIPS, Rambus, and Vitesse.

Bill continues as an active advisor to Mohr Davidow. He is the author of Marketing High Technology and a co-author of Total Customer Service and The Virtual Corporation. His new book, OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, launched January 4, 2011.

While at Intel Corp., Bill served as senior vice president of marketing and sales, vice president of the microcomputer division and vice president of the microcomputer systems division. Prior to Intel Corp., Bill worked in various managerial positions at Hewlett Packard and General Electric.

Bill earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Dartmouth College, a master's degree in electrical engineering from both Dartmouth College and the California Institute of Technology, and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

His community involvement extends to serving on the boards of California Institute of Technology, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He also sits on the Foundation Board of UCSF Medical Center.

My book review of OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet by William H. Davidow.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with high technology industry executive, venture capitalist and author of the thought provoking and insightful book OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, William H. Davidow, as he describes how the explosive growth of the internet has also created some unique hazards. With everyone being connected to the point of perhaps being overconnected there are serious challenges being created for government, business, social institutions, and entire economies. Along with the benefits of being connected, being overconnected creates systems with excessive feedback leading to greater volatility and potential for accidents. William Davidow places the potential dangers of overconnection into a unique historical and real world perspective, and offers suggestions to prevent possible future problems on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, William H. Davidow, systems analysis, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

OVERconnected: The Promise and the Threat of the Internet by William H. Davidow - Book review

OVERconnected

The Promise and Threat of the Internet

By: William H. Davidow

Published: January 4, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1883285461
ISBN-13: 978-1883285463
Publisher: Delphinium Books








"By 2007, the Internet had become so much a part of our way of life that we were no longer conscious of the ways it was affecting us", writes former Silicon Valley executive and successful entrepreneur William H. Davidow, in his thought provoking and insightful book OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet. The author describes how the very ubiquitous nature of the Internet masks a myriad of dangers to both individuals and to society; along as providing its many benefits.

William Davidow recognizes the success of the Internet in creating connections that work toward making the world a much smaller place. The World Wide Web has made business and communications more efficient, effective, and wider reaching than ever before in history. The range and depth of the Internet connects people and business on a global scale that is unprecedented in the course of human endeavor. At the same time, William Davidow points to another potentially societal damaging side to the Internet. Paradoxically, the connections created and enabled through the Web can also become too deep and too wide in scope. The same effects that transformed the Internet into a link between people and organizations also sow the seeds of potentially devastating consequences.



William H. Davidow (photo left) deconstructs the form of the Internet as containing both strong and weak connections. Through the effective use of systems theory, the author presents the case that the massive web of connections creates excessive amounts of positive feedback. The result of this ever growing feedback loop is increasing levels of instability within the system at both the macro and micro levels. With so much additional instability, the entire system becomes prone to accidents and growing amounts of volatility. Using historical and modern examples of systems feedback, William Davidow demonstrates how the increases in volatility accelerates system breakdown. While the Internet connectedness didn't cause the 2008 financial crisis, or cause the financial default in Iceland, the system did contribute the often overlooked aspects of speed and continual feedback. This positive feedback and information exchange efficiency can work rapidly to create more economic activity, but also works to leverage the damage to ever higher levels in a downturn.

For me, the power of the book is how William Davidow provides a powerful and passionate description of the Internet as positively reinforcing system, based on feedback and information efficiency. The author presents a balanced view of both the benefits and the inherent dangers of the modern connected world. As a pioneer of the Internet and its technology, William Davidow shares a perspective that understands how the system operates from the inside. Along with this systems knowledge is a deeper insight into the many ways that even the most seemingly successful systems. In the case of the Internet, its very success increases its vulnerability to systems failure. Along with this rich and rewarding theoretical background, the author offers some practical ideas to reduce the overall risk to the Internet as a system.

William Davidow points to the dangers to privacy of being connected in so many places simultaneously, and in real time. This loss of privacy is not only dangerous to the individual, but also presents another touch point of volatility to the system through efficient information exchange. When problems arise in the Internet, the entire system reproduces those issues, and magnifies their potential for disaster. In the case of the financial crisis, the efficient information exchange created feedback that multiplied the contagion of collapse. To prevent this problem recurring, the author offers some practical and common sense solutions. The author also bolsters his recommendations through placing the Internet system within a solid historical context. The examples given, ranging from the 1720 South Seas Bubble to the Iceland financial failure, show how the aspect of positive feedback loops increase system volatility, ending in collapse. Being overconnected through the Internet is the latest, and the most complete, feedback system in history.

I highly recommend the landmark and groundbreaking book OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet by William H. Davidow, to anyone serious about understanding how the Internet operates as a volatile feedback system. The author provides an excellent dissection of the Internet from the inside out, and shares some very workable strategies to reduce the danger presented by being overconnected at the personal, organizational, and global levels.

Read the seminal and essential book OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet by William H. Davidow, and learn how the Internet really works. The findings and conclusions will both surprise and shock you. The author points the way to utilizing the overall advantages of the Internet to modern society, while offering techniques to reduce the overall systemic, as well as the personal risk.

Tags: OVERconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, William H. Davidow, systems analysis, business book reviews.

Thomas Freese: Sell Yourself First - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Leading authority on sales effectiveness, Founder and President of QBS Research, Inc., and author of the revolutionary and sales building book Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort, Thomas Freese, understands that the current sales environment presents some real challenges for sales people. Thomas Freese points out that the best advantage you have over your competition is you. The author shares how to win sales by establishing yourself as a trusted resource instead of just another sales representative. Discover practical and very creative sales solutions based on the author's decades of sales experience. Learn how to justify prices and meet customer doubts and questions directly and positively. Find out why selling yourself first is the key to sales success in any industry and in every economy.

Thomas Freese is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, March 1, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Leading authority on sales effectiveness, Founder and President of QBS Research, Inc., and author of the revolutionary and sales building book Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort, Thomas Freese, understands that the current sales environment presents some real challenges for sales people. You will learn:

* Why it's vital to sell yourself first with the job interview approach

* Why today's customers are so skeptical of salespeople and why you should embrace it

* How to build relationships with customers that last over time

^ Why it's important to change your sales approach today to close more sales



Thomas A. Freese (photo left) is founder and president of QBS Research, Inc., Tom Freese, five-time bestselling author, is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on sales effectiveness training and competitive positioning strategies.

Originally from upstate New York, Thomas A. Freese graduated from the University of Florida in 1983 with a Finance degree. Instead of pursuing a financial track, Tom embarked on a sales career, working in the field of healthcare technology for Shared Medical Systems (SMS) and Baxter.

In 1990, Tom accepted a position selling application design software for KnowledgeWare, Inc. There he broadened his industry experience selling to a wide range of companies in telecommunications, insurance, financial services, manufacturing, consulting, and government.

In 1992, Tom opened the Southeastern Regional Office for NetFrame Systems. NetFrame manufactured superserver hardware to run large corporate networks with fault tolerant capabilities that offered reliability, data integrity, scalability, security and lower total cost of ownership.

In 1995, after multiple years achieving 200+% of his annual sales goals, the ‘then President of NetFrame’ asked Tom if he would train the rest of the sales organization on whatever it was that was enabling him to be so successful. Tom spent the next 60 days developing a curriculum that would enable him to transfer his knowledge and approach to his counterparts within NetFrame.

One of the most difficult audiences to train is your own peer group. But, when the feedback from Tom’s initial training at NetFrame was so overwhelmingly positive, and people said, “you have to bottle this system,” that was the catalyst that motivated Tom to start working on his first book.

With 17+ years in the corporate trenches of sales and management under his belt, Tom packaged his unique approach into a proven methodology called Question Based Selling. He has since trained thousands of salespeople at client corporations all over the world.

As founder and president of QBS Research, Inc., Tom Freese, five-time bestselling author, is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on sales effectiveness training and competitive positioning strategies.

When Tom is not enjoying his family in Atlanta, he is a highly sought after speaker and dynamic sales trainer who maximizes the delivery of content with a high degree of interaction along with the underlying logic that will ensure a successful implementation.

My book review of Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort by Thomas A. Freese.

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with leading authority on sales effectiveness, Founder and President of QBS Research, Inc., and author of the revolutionary and sales building book Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort, Thomas Freese, understands that the current sales environment presents some real challenges for sales people. Thomas Freese as he points out that the best advantage you have over your competition is you. The author shares how to win sales by establishing yourself as a trusted resource instead of just another sales representative. Discover practical and very creative sales solutions based on the author's decades of sales experience. Learn how to justify prices and meet customer doubts and questions directly and positively. Find out why selling yourself first is the key to sales success in any industry and in every economy on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort, Thomas A. Freese, enhanced sales techniques, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

Judith Orloff, M.D.: Emotional Freedom - Special offer

Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life

Uplifting New York Times bestseller by Judith Orloff, M.D., is now available in paperback.

Judith Orloff M.D., a UCLA psychiatrist, presents her unique approach for viewing emotions as a path to spiritual and intuitive awakening. You'll learn how to stop absorbing other people's negativity and how to stay calm instead of reacting when your buttons get pushed. Synthesizing neuroscience and intuitive/energy medicine, this book liberates you from fear — and the emotional vampires who suck you dry.

Purchase the book, plus get your "Embrace Joy" gift collection at:

http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-paperback/

My book review of Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life by Judith Orloff, M.D.

Tags: Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, Judith Orloff M.D., personal leadership, personal development book reviews.

Emotional Freedom by Judith Orloff, M.D. - Book review

Emotional Freedom

Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life

By: Judith Orloff, M.D.

Published: February 2011
Format: Paperback, 416 pages
ISBN-10: 0307338193
ISBN-13: 978-0307338198
Publisher: Three Rivers Press










"You possess the ability to achieve such emotional freedom; it's closer than you think. No matter how stressed your life is currently, the time for positive change is now", writes Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, Judith Orloff, M.D., in her insightful and transformational book Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life. The author describes the inner strength gained by taking control of one's own life through emotional development to create positive reactions to both good and bad events.

Judith Orloff understands the power of a person's emotions, and how for many people, negative emotions can seize control of their lives. Instead of avoiding the many emotional triggers that a person encounters in life, the author recommends facing these emotions directly through the deep and challenging lessons provided in the book. In the case of each emotion, it can be changed from one state to another. Negative emotions can become positive ones through the action oriented concepts that empower the individual, rather than having the person living in a life controlled by the actions of others and their actions. Instead, Judith Orloff shares how to identify one's own emotional type and turn that characteristic into a source of emotional strength. The result of this personal taking charge is a happier and more fulfilled life.



Judith Orloff, M.D. (photo left) points out that the most important relationship of a person's life is with themselves. The author writes that to establish and nurture this self-relationship, it is essential to gain control of the emotions. In this case, the author provides the tools to turn the current emotional imbalance upside down. In place of each negative emotion that holds a person back, the author guides the individual to replace it with its opposite positive emotion. Through this re-balancing, a person achieves the freedom to move forward with one's life and to strengthen the important relationship with oneself. With the critical self-relationship healed, the person is then much better equipped to respond in a more positive way to the many obstacles and challenging people that are met throughout one's life. In effect, Judith Orloff guides a person through the process of rewiring their entire emotional response system so that each external stimulus triggers a positive and empowering emotional response. The past response, of a negative and self-destructive emotion, is removed through this process, providing freedom from the captivity of the negative emotions.

For me, the power of the book is how Judith Orloff presents the complex concept, of emotional response and personal transformation, in a very engaging and personal way. The ideas are shared in an understandable and logical format, that helps the person to continue through the process without getting lost or bogged down at various points. The author blends the theoretical and psychological aspects of the transformation, with practical and actionable advice for ridding oneself of the negative emotions that sabotage one's happiness.

The book contains a step by step process for achieving personal freedom from the constraints of negative emotions. At the same time, Judith Orloff shares warmth and empathic advice for freeing oneself from the draining emotional experience of the difficult people in one's life. Throughout the book, the action oriented advice is highlighted for ease of reference, and the material is structured for ongoing study of new techniques, and for reflecting upon the transformation made along the journey. The author connects the concept of emotional well-being with physical health and personal happiness. For the author, these principles are entwined, and act harmoniously when all are attuned to one another. Emotional freedom leads directly to better health and a richer and happier life.

I highly recommend the empowering and liberating book Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life by Judith Orloff M.D., to anyone who is struggling with gaining control of their emotions and their own personal happiness and physical wellness. This book offers an action oriented techniques that will result in real and lasting, positive emotional change.

Read the enlightening and life altering book Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life by Judith Orloff M.D., and discover the wonderful and life changing benefits of emotional transformation. This book will deliver of on its promise of achieving lasting, personal emotional freedom.

Tags: Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, Judith Orloff M.D., personal leadership, personal development book reviews.

Kevin Davis: Slow Down, Sell Faster! - Author interview

Acclaimed sales training coach and President of TopLine Leadership, Inc., Kevin Davis, was kind enough to answer a few questions about his groundbreaking and sales transformational book Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales.

Kevin Davis describes how sales people fail to close sales because they try to sell too fast, fail to understand the buyer, and attempt to put the customer on their own schedule.

Thanks to Kevin Davis for his time, and for his interesting and comprehensive responses to the questions. They are greatly appreciated.






What was the background to writing this book Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales?

Kevin Davis: My first book, Getting into Your Customer’s Head was named one of the top 30 business books of the year in 1996. That was back in the days when being customer focused was still a novel idea. Two factors made me decide it was time to update my original book. First, times are much different now than back in 1996. More than ever, salespeople have to differentiate themselves based on how they sell, not just what they sell. Second, I’ve also had the privilege of working closely with clients in the design and delivery of our training program, and have been able to refine my original sales model even further. Slow Down, Sell Faster! is not just a revised edition of my first book, it is completely rewritten and updated, including new stories and examples.

Why do so many otherwise astute sales people so often rush through their sales presentations?

Kevin Davis: Good salespeople are enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It’s very hard to fight the urge to rush in and fix everything with good advice! Another problem is that salespeople been taught how to get through the steps of their sale quickly. What they haven’t been taught is how to slow down and get the customer to do more of the talking. They haven’t been taught that they need to pay attention to signals that tell them where the customer is in their buying process—which may lag far behind the salesperson’s selling process.

Does the prospect have a different internal timetable for buying that is often not matched with the seller's pace?

Kevin Davis: Often prospects have a timetable determined by their own business pressures, but the biggest factor is how long it takes them to get through each step of their buying process. They need time to evaluate just how big their need is—and whether the cost of making a chance is lower than the cost of doing nothing. They need time to determine what factors are most important, and evaluate different competitors.

Why should sales people match their speed to the buyer's pace?

Kevin Davis: A salesperson who is out-of-sync with a customer is a salesperson who will likely lose the sale. If a salesperson rushes through their own steps of selling, they create problems for themselves. For example, the customer may hear about features and benefits that don’t interest them (which will lead them to question the price). Worse, the customer will think they’ve heard everything valuable that the salesperson has to tell them—so the salesperson gets shut out of the picture just when the customer is starting to look around at competitors.



Kevin Davis (photo left)

Will slowing down the sales process work with single buyers and multiple buyers and purchasing teams as well?

Kevin Davis: Slowing down is important when dealing with every prospect. But it can be especially valuable when dealing with multiple buyers or purchasing teams because it means you’re going to take the time to define the needs of everyone involved in the purchasing decision. That will help you define a stronger position when it comes time to describe your solution and differentiators.

You recommend buyer-focused selling. What is that concept and why is it important?

Kevin Davis: Buying-focused selling means looking at the sales process through the eyes of the buyer. A salesperson may have been taught one way to present the functions, features, and “benefits” of the product or service they are selling. When they look at that solution through a customer’s eyes, they realize that benefits are meaningless unless they are tied to specific customer needs.

You describe eight different roles in buyer-focused selling. What are these eight, and is it important for sales people to understand and recognize them all?

Kevin Davis: The eight roles are basically a memory device I came up with to help salespeople match their sales behaviors to where the customer is in the buying process. Six sales roles match the buying process up to the point of sale, and two roles describe the post-sale responsibilities necessary to create customer loyalty.

Each role is named after a profession that captures the types of behaviors that will help a salesperson best serve a customer who is in a particular step of the buying process. The eight roles—listed in the order that matches the steps of customer buying—are Student, Doctor, Architect, Coach, Therapist, Negotiator, Teacher, and Farmer.

For example, the Doctor role is a match to customers who have just recognized they are unhappy with their current situation and begun to think that it may be desirable to make a change. The Doctor steps in and helps the “patient” fully diagnose their needs and the potential impact of action or non-action.

The important part of this model isn’t so much that people memorize these eight roles, but that they understand how to best help customers buy.

How can a sales person move toward being a coach and guide for the eight types?

Kevin Davis: The most effective salespeople are those who coach and guide themselves. There are built-in milestones and other questions I provide in the book and my training courses that not only help salespeople prepare better for calls but also debrief themselves afterwards—essentially becoming their own coach.

The milestones are also great checkpoints for sales managers to review what their sales reps are doing, giving the manager opportunities to coach and guide staff early in the sales process—where I can have the biggest effect.

What is the first step a sales person should take toward slowing down their sales process?

Kevin Davis: Before the next conversation with any customer, the salesperson should take 5 minutes to think about where that customer is in their buying process and what he or she, the salesperson, needs to do to help the customer through that buying step. (It’s unlikely the answer will be “rush through my presentation.”) They also need to think about the go-forward commitments they want from the customer—specific actions they want the customer to take.

What is next for Kevin Davis?

Kevin Davis: My next focus is on improving sales management. I’ve met a lot of sales managers who were once stellar salespeople. But the skills needed to manage a sales team are a lot different from the skills that make someone a great salesperson. Yet few companies I’ve seen invest in training their sales managers—even though that would give them more leverage. Develop an effective sales manager and you can improve the whole team. Someone who is great at coaching, leading, and motivating the sales team is one of the best assets a company can has. I want to encourage companies to invest more in their sales managers.

**********************

Author Bio

Kevin Davis, author of Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales, is President of TopLine Leadership, Inc., a leading sales and sales management training company serving clients from diverse sectors. He has 30+ years of experience as a salesperson, sales manager, sales trainer, and consultant. His 1996 book Getting Into Your Customer's Head helped redefine how salespeople approach selling.

For more information about the book please visit http://www.slowdownsellfaster.com/ and connect with the author on Facebook and Twitter.

My book review of Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales by Kevin Davis.

Tags: Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales, Kevin Davis, enhanced sales techniques, business author interviews.

Sell Yourself First by Thomas A. Freese - Book review

Sell Yourself First

The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort

By: Thomas A. Freese

Published: December 30, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1591843650
ISBN-13: 978-1591843658
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin













"Sellers are finding it more difficult to get appointments, not to mention differentiating a value proposition that sounds strikingly similar to the last dozen vendors who called", writes the President of QBS Research, Inc., Thomas A. Freese in his revolutionary and sales building book Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort. The author describes how to establish yourself as a trusted source of valuable information and advice, and not be seen as simply another pushy sales person.

Thomas Freese understands that appointments are more difficult to book, and sales are more difficult to close, as customers are uncertain as to which sales representatives to trust. That doesn't mean, however, that potential buyers are not seeking calls from salespeople. They are, in fact, looking for guidance and solutions more than ever. The problem is that in the vast sea of very similar products and services, and one sales representative being more or less like all of the rest, the customer is faced with confusion. As Thomas Freese points out, a satisfied customer whose real problems are actually solved, will thank the sales person for helping them. For Thomas Freese, this underlines the essential step of establishing trust and rapport with the customer. Simply realizing that customers, while skeptical at first, as really looking for answers to solve their most pressing problems.



Thomas A. Freese (photo left) provides a very elegant solution for closing more sales while building trust. The author recommends treating every sales call as a job interview. The job interview is about what forms the central thesis of the book through selling yourself first. Effective job interviewees always provide ideas about how they can benefit the potential employer. When the job interview principle is applied to sales, the focus is transferred from the seller to the buyer. By emphasizing how the sales representative can help the customers achieve their desired goals and solve their problems, the interview oriented person ceases to be just another sales representative. The interview concept also results in the buyer and seller sharing a conversation and ideas, resulting in a deeper and more trusting relationship. Instead of the usual canned sales pitch, and the typically vague value proposition, the sales person who sells themselves first can break through the wall of skepticism to generate more sales. At the same time, a long term customer relationship is developed between buyer and seller.

For me, the power of the book is how Thomas Freese turns the usual ideas about sales upside down, and offers an effective yet simple alternative method for making more sales. Through a skillful blending of theory and practical advice, the author develops a unique and highly effective sales concept. The job interview analogy is very important for transforming the usual sales training emphasis on the presentation and answering objections, to one of focusing on how the products and services benefit the buyer. Unlike most other sales training books, Thomas Freese recognizes the real concerns that prospects harbor about any new sales representative. Instead of dismissing these very real buyer concerns, or talking glibly around them, the author suggests embracing them as a key to understanding the real needs of the customer.

Throughout this fine book, Thomas Freese guides the sales representative through acknowledging that the buyer will be uncertain as to whether or not to trust the unfamiliar sales person. When the seller understands that buyers have their own unique needs and problems, the sales representative can then literally interview for the position of solutions provider. Through this conversational approach, the seller can share the unique value proposition and how it will benefit the customer. The customer centered approach taken by the author leads directly to demonstrating real value and benefits for the customer, moving well beyond the usual concerns about pricing, and into the more important realm of a personal relationship.

I highly recommend the essential and idea changing book Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort by Thomas A. Freese, to any sales managers, sales representatives, and entrepreneurs who are serious about truly understanding how and why customers feel about the entire sales process. This book will provide the necessary skills development to achieve deeper and more productive conversations with customers, helping the successful sales representative to not only close more sales, but to meet the buyer's real needs.

Read the systematic and very logical book Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort by Thomas A. Freese, and put the power of the job interview concept to work in your sales calls. Instead of focusing on yourself as the seller, your entire vision will become one of helping solve the customer's problems. The end result is a win-win of additional sales and of more satisfied clients.

Tags: Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort, Thomas A. Freese, enhanced sales techniques, business book reviews.

Slow Down, Sell Faster! by Kevin Davis - Book review

Slow Down, Sell Faster!

Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales

By: Kevin Davis

Published: January 5, 2011
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 0814416853
ISBN-13: 978-0814416853
Publisher: AMACOM












"An understanding of buying is where selling should start", writes President of TopLine Leadership, Inc.; Kevin Davis, in his groundbreaking and sales transformational book Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales. The author describes how sales people fail to close sales because they try to sell too fast, fail to understand the buyer, and attempt to put the customer on their own schedule.

Kevin Davis redefines sales completely from a traditional selling model to helping customers buy. The author recognizes how sales people have long been taught the tactics and techniques of sales, but have rarely been shown how and why customers make their purchasing decisions. Kevin Davis writes that the standard sales process is based on the perspective of the seller. Instead, the author turns the entire concept of sales upside down, and presents the alternative idea of having sales people adapt their their selling behavior to the customer's buying behavior. Kevin Davis presents a fresh sales paradigm that places the sales representative in sync with the psychology of the customer.



Kevin Davis (photo left) understands that unsuccessful sales people make the mistake of trying to sell too fast. Not only is the speed the only problem, but the high speed sales process places the focus on the seller, and not on the buyer. For Kevin Davis, this misplaced emphasis is the core of the lack of closing problem. By trying to sell too fast, the sales person fails to ask either enough questions or the right questions, is unable to identify the customer's real needs, or offer the the buyer the right solution. At the same time, the solutions that are offered to the customer are presented in the wrong order and with the wrong approach. This traditional sales model doesn't provide for what the author describes as a win-win sales process. For Kevin Davis, a win-win sales approach is essential for meeting the real needs of the customer. Since the customer has their own buying process, timetable, and needs, it's critical for the sales representative to slow down and become attuned to the real needs of the customer, in order to provide the right solution to the buyer's real problem.

For me, the power of the book is how Kevin Davis describes effectively the real underlying problems with the traditional sales approach, and provides a more effective and buyer focused alternative. Not only does the author offer strong theoretical reasoning for slowing down the sales process, but shares his proven methods for becoming a more effective sales person who is better attuned to the real needs of the customer. By changing the overall emphasis from that of the seller to the behavior of the buyer, Kevin Davis challenges sales people to transform their approach to the entire sales process. Instead of simply replacing one set of traditional sales methods with another, this book presents total change of thinking and acting on the part of the sales person.

Kevin Davis also understands that different customers possess widely varying styles of buying behavior. The author identifies eight different types of sales roles. Only through slowing down the sales process, and really getting to know the customer's behavior, and tune their sales role to each customer's individual psychology in every step of the process. The author guides the sales person through the revolutionary change in thought and approach to sales with practical advice on both the technical and interpersonal aspects of sales, always with an eye to slowing down the process to synchronize the seller with the buyer's psychology. With the selling process aligned with the customer's buying process, more sales will be closed, and the customers will achieve greater satisfaction through having their real needs identified and the right solution put into place.

I highly recommend the revolutionary and must read book Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales by Kevin Davis, to any sales manager, sales person, or any organization serious about developing an effective and customer focused sales process. This book will not only change completely the way you approach the sales process and increase the number of closed sales, but also develop deeper rapport and relationships with customers.

Read the outstanding and essential sales enhancing book Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales by Kevin Davis, and discover why slowing down will boost the total number of sales, but will paradoxically result in those sales being closed faster.

Tags: Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales, Kevin Davis, enhanced sales techniques, business book reviews.