Talk To Win

📅  8th October 2020 | 2020/21 Sales Book Reviews

There’s a new format for this week’s sales book review. Instead of the Good, Bad and the Ugly, we have something which is a little more nuanced. Of course, you’ll have to take into consideration when a book was published and what was de rigueur in selling at the time.

First up under the new ‘regime’ is ‘Conversations That Sell’ by the brilliant Nancy Bleeke. Nancy is President of Sales Pro Insider, a training and consulting firm based near Milwaukee in the USA.

 

What’s New

For me, the most powerful passage in the entire book is laid out in the very first chapter. Nancy Bleeke writes ‘With the commoditisation of many products and services, combined with the proliferation of information, you are often the differentiating factor in a prospect’s decision to buy.’

Although published in 2013, this piece of information, in my experience, still hasn’t got through to many sellers. One is still bombarded by product-centric sclerotic salespeople (mainly by cold e-mail) forcing their offerings as if they were going out of fashion. Bleeke highlights that true professional salespeople take time out to thoroughly research a customer’s business, need and wants. Nothing new but a reminder that the profession of selling and the people in it, need to up their game.

Early adopters of Nancy’s methods will have liked the buyer’s POWNs (Problems, Opportunities, Wants & Needs) and how to uncover them. (A little close to the pronunciation of pounds as in £’s for my liking!)

What’s Old

Nancy puts a lot of store in her various passage about “Tribal Types”. She cites four types of buyer personalities. Part of a sellers job is to figure out what type they are and what makes them tick. There have been numerous publications which explain this in as much detail as CTS. One I can think of and recommend is “Mapping Motivation” by James Sale. His book highlights nine types of personality. I can also remember a training video from the eighties which showed a “Mr Large Ego” as the main buyer. Laid out in Nancy’s book are various open and closed questions one should ask your prospect. They differ depending on the ‘type’ you’re in conversation with and is a good resource.

The final chapter in the book goes over your job and life action plan. There’s an extensive list you can work from and keep track of your progress. But honestly, you can see this sort of thing in any lifestyle magazine.

What’s Better

Nancy’s WiifT system (What’s In It For Them) and pronounced “Whiff It” (UK residents need not chuckle) takes the seller through a five-step system. The whole shtick here is to get your buyer as part of the collaborative selling process. I like the way this has been set out in the book as it gives the seller a firm route map to eventual sales success. Yet having the tools to put your customer in the forefront of your mind is one thing. Having the empathy, humility and foresight to deliver the correct solution is quite another. Nancy reveals that successful sellers put the needs and wants of their clients ahead of their needs and wants.

What’s Worse

Conversations That Sell is typical of modern (pre-pandemic) sales books. The author explains the requirement for a collaborative-style of sale with the emphasis being on thorough research. The gentle and well orchestrated steps towards the conclusion of a sale (by utilising WiifT) is as good a method as any. Nancy hasn’t fallen into the trap of simply endorsing other types of sales methodology. So hats off to her for being in the 21st century!

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Ed. I look forward to seeing a follow up post-COVID19 title from Nancy in the not too distant future.

Tags: sales training