Slow Down, Sell Faster!, 2nd Edition

Slow Down, Sell Faster!, 2nd Edition

by
Released January 2011
Publisher(s): AMACOM
ISBN: 9780814416860

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Book description

The biggest mistake you’re making in your sales career right now is equating a faster pitch with a faster close. Believe it or not, you will actually experience greater success if you slow down. Slow Down, Sell Faster! shows you how to stop jumping the gun and work with your customers to identify and quantify their real needs, so by the time you begin your pitch in earnest, you’re already halfway home. Featuring a simple yet powerful eight-step process and practical, repeatable techniques, Slow Down, Sell Faster! is packed with examples from the author’s extensive experience, plus research on customer buying processes—rather than traditional selling processes. This buyer-focused approach to selling extends to proposals and presentations, loyalty and retention, and, of course, cultivating more business. Each step in the book corresponds to a role you should adopt to meet a customer’s needs at each stage of the buying process. There are two sides to every sale. In today’s extra-challenging business climate, understanding the buying process is where professional selling should start.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication1
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction
  9. PART I Understanding Buying Is Where Selling Should Start
    1. Chapter 1 Why Slower Is Faster: How Selling Too Fast Results in Lost Sales and a Longer Buying Process
      1. How Selling Too Fast Causes Lost Sales
      2. Shifting from Selling- to Buying-Focused
      3. The Eight Steps in the Customer’s Buying Process
      4. Six Mysteries of Selling Solved
      5. The Eight Sales Roles That Match the Buying Process
      6. Slow Down and Get in Sync!
    2. Chapter 2 Mastering the Politics of Selling to Multiple Decision Makers
      1. The Players on a Complex Buying Team
      2. Configurations of a Complex Buying Team
      3. A Case Study in Complex Buying Team Dynamics
      4. How to Avoid the Biggest Mistakes
      5. Looking Ahead
    3. Chapter 3 Winning the Complex Sale
      1. The Questions You Can’t Afford Not to Ask
      2. Fundamental Skills to Master
      3. When in the Buying Process to Reach Each Decision Maker
      4. Sharpening Your Political Skills
      5. Winning Over a Complex Buying Team Takes Skill
  10. PART II THE EIGHT ROLES OF BUYING-FOCUSED SELLING
    1. Prologue to Part II How to Get Started with the Eight Sales Roles
      1. Focus on Obtaining Go-Forward Commitments
      2. Getting Started
    2. Chapter 4 The Student: Use Knowledge to Gain an Edge
      1. Study Your Customer
      2. Customer Step 1: Change
      3. How a Student Gains a Deeper Understanding of Your Customer’s Business
      4. Know Three Things About Each Customer That Other Salespeople Won’t Know
      5. Understanding the Company’s Decision-Making Hierarchy
      6. Put Your Knowledge to Work
      7. Milestone #1: Getting More First Appointments
        1. The Goal: A Twenty-Minute Appointment
        2. A Telephone Approach That Gets Results
        3. Preparing for the First Appointment
    3. Chapter 5 The Doctor: Diagnose Small Problems, Define Big Needs
      1. Uncovering Needs to Establish the Value of Your Solution
      2. Customer Step 2: Discontent
      3. Types of “Patients” You Will Meet
      4. How the Doctor Intensifies the Prospect’s Need for Change
      5. The Five Steps of Diagnosis
      6. Handling the “Ballpark Price” Questions
      7. Identify then Intensify Discontent
      8. Milestone #2: Accelerating Momentum with a Memo of Understanding (MOU)
        1. Why MOUs Are Critical
        2. Sample MOU
    4. Chapter 6 The Architect: Design Customer-Focused Solutions
      1. Orienting on the Buying Process
      2. Customer Step 3: Research
      3. The Customer’s Process for Developing a Solution
      4. Understanding Customer Buying Criteria
      5. The Dynamics of Customer Buying Criteria
      6. How an Architect Designs Unique Solutions
      7. Identify Your Differentiators (Do a Market Assessment)
      8. The Architect’s Toolkit: How to Understand and Influence Buying Criteria
      9. Creating a Better Match Between Criteria and Capabilities
      10. Create a Unique Solution to Match Customer Needs
    5. Chapter 7 The Coach: Make a Plan to Defeat the Competition
      1. Evaluating Your Starting Position
      2. Customer Step 4: Comparison
      3. How a Coach Develops a Winning Game Plan
      4. Scouting the Competition
      5. Five Winning Strategies
      6. Become a Stronger Competitor
      7. Milestone #3: Winning Proposals and Presentations
        1. Developing a Convincing Proposal
        2. Presentations: Preparation Will Meet Opportunity
        3. Be Sure to Maintain Communication
    6. Chapter 8 The Therapist: Understand and Resolve a Buyer’s Fears
      1. Customer Step 5: Fear
      2. Why Fear Happens
      3. How a Therapist Resolves Buying Fears
      4. Important Skills of a Therapist
      5. Fear May Not be the Only Hurdle
      6. Resolving Your Own Fears
      7. Help Customers Move Past Fear
    7. Chapter 9 The Negotiator: Reaching a Mutual Commitment
      1. Customer Step 6: Commitment
      2. How a Negotiator Creates Win-Win
      3. Evaluate Your Negotiating Power
      4. Preparing to Negotiate
      5. Handling the Most Common Customer Negotiating Tactics
      6. When the Negotiation Really Begins
      7. Negotiate to a Win-Win Agreement
      8. Milestone #4: Transitioning from Pre- to Post-Sale
        1. Do You Keep or Hand Off Implementation?
        2. Drafting an Implementation Plan
        3. Minimizing Customer Risk
    8. Chapter 10 The Teacher: Teach Customers to Achieve Maximum Value
      1. Customer Step 7: Expectations of Value
      2. Lessons from the Learning Curve
      3. How an Effective Teacher Instructs Customers: The Four Steps of Customer Education
      4. Teaching Benefits You, the Teacher
      5. Exceed Your Customers’ Expectations
    9. Chapter 11 The Farmer: Cultivate Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
      1. The Key to Customer Satisfaction
      2. Customer Step 8: Satisfaction
      3. How a Farmer Cultivates Customer Loyalty
      4. Four Keys to Sales Farming
      5. The Three Levels of Customer Relationships
      6. When and How to Develop a Strategic Partnership
      7. Getting More Referrals and Testimonials
      8. Your Final Role: Chief Satisfaction Officer
    10. Epilogue to Part II
  11. PART III COACHING THE EIGHT SALES ROLES
    1. Chapter 12 Coaching for Success: Advice for Sales Managers (and the People Who Work for Them)
      1. What Is Coaching?
      2. How to Improve Your Sales Coaching
      3. Getting the Most Value Out of Each Milestone
      4. Coaching the Sales Roles
      5. Your Mission: Create a Great Sales Team
  12. Endnotes
  13. Index
  14. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: Slow Down, Sell Faster!, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: January 2011
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814416860