Prescription Without Diagnosis Is Malpractice

📅  22nd October 2020 | 2020/21 Sales Book Reviews

The title of this week’s sales book review post is my favourite line from James Muir‘s The Perfect Close. 

At first glance, the book looks like another volume of sales ineffectuality. In fact, it’s almost the complete opposite. We’re all aware of the well known phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’. Once you’ve flicked through the first few pages you know you’re dealing with something slightly out of the ordinary. At a future point, I will be reviewing the title which is associated with this book, namely The Perfect Close Workbook by the same author.

 

 

What’s New

Throughout the book the reader will encounter the 22 “Closing Secrets”.  These are perfect reminders of what modern *closing is all about. The world of sales, as I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion on this site, has moved on quite considerably from before the Internet – and will do so again once the current pandemic is behind us. I very much liked how James Muir explains what closing is and what it isn’t. The misconceptions and the reasons why it so often fails. One of the underlying causes is that of fear. Muir claims that TPC addresses those fears. I think he’s right. It does.

Loved the “Mock Hug” as illustrated on page 40. How you greet a customer is so important. You won’t win any friends turning up with the attitude of an old curmudgeon. Muir suggests that this is all part of ‘intent’.

The chapter on Value is one of the best I’ve read in recent times. The overarching take-away is that every call has to be of value to the customer. Don’t just overwhelm them with data and information.

Muir also delves into some behavioural economics. He describes how ‘extrapolation bias‘ works in the context of a seller/buyer long-term relationship.

What’s Old

In the books preamble, James Muir sets out why he wrote the book. His amusing tale of a presentation going a bit Pete Tong was clearly a cathartic moment.  The point being that one must, at some stage, ask for the flippin’ order.

In my view, there’s way too many mentions of Neil Rackham’s SPIN. We all know it was groundbreaking in 1988. But things are a little different now. Do you really need to ask ‘Situational’ questions? I know there are occasions when one has to but as a general point, one ought to know a customers issues and aspirations before pitching up at their door for your discovery appointment. On the other hand, Muir goes into some depth about the differences between an advance, an engagement and a continuation. All Rackham-isms!

Several pages are dedicated to to creating a collaborative meeting agenda. There are examples of the right words and phrases to use and how to set the agenda. Powerful stuff.

The title of this review dates back to the last century. “Don’t jump in here with a solution” was emblazoned all over a training page in a manual I was forced to read and digest many moons ago. But the instruction still stands. Get to know the real issues and objectives your customer has before diving in with “have we got a deal for you” or similar.

What’s Better

In addition to the usual acknowledgements, glossary and ‘final word’ at the back of the book, you’ll also find some recommended reading. The generous list of authors and their publications are many of Muir’s rivals in the USA.

For me, the stand-out passages in this book are those which cover:

a) Sales Efficiency and Effectiveness

b) Advances, Continuations and Call Objectives, and

c) Chapter 7 – ‘Why Should The Client See Me?”

What’s Worse

My biggest criticism of this book is the amount of  repetition. Repetition is fine in the training room and in sales training manuals. James Muir makes some great points on value and planning in particular. There was no need to labour the point. Also, there was no requirement to print sections from Muir.com particularly as that website is mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the publication.

There’s a graphic entitled the Buyer’s Journey which shows a linear progression from “Not in the Market” to “Final Selection”.  In my view, I feel that the buyers journey doesn’t finish with the placing of an order. It finishes when the problem they set out to alleviate has been successfully resolved.

 

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*As I alluded to in “What’s Worse”, the term closing in 2020 is on the edge of the sales graveyard. Any non-transactional sale nowadays is never completed until the buyer(s) are satisfied. Selling is so much more than the opening gambit and “getting that signature”.  A close suggests that the sale is over once the goods are delivered. Not so. It’s the start of a long-term, and hopefully profitable relationship.

 

 

Tags: sales training, work ethic

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