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Rework. Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson. 2010 ISBN 9780307463746. These are the two  chaps of 37 signals who started  Basecamp and a host of other tools.  They were also early advocates of Ruby on Rails.  A breathless book that runs through the gamut of pragmatic business advice. You will find your self agreeing with them much more than disagreeing. Their comments on software design ( It should be simple, practical, easy to use but often is not) resonated today as I was running through Microsoft Office 2010. sigh, I can see why Open Office is attractive – Microsoft changed the paradigm yet again, breaking all of Don Norman’s rules.  37Signals say marketing is not a department which is bang on since it is something every one in your company is doing 24/7. For example:

• Every time you answer the phone its marketing
• Every time you send an email its marketing
• Every time someone uses your product, its marketing
• Every word you write on your website is marketing
• If you build software, every error message is marketing
• If you are in the restaurant business. the after-dinner mint is marketing
• If you are in the retail business, the checkout counter is marketing
• If you are in the service business, your invoice is marketing

Marketing is the sum total of everything you do.

Buy it read it and pass it on to someone you like. Its short but right on. Website www.37signals.com/rework

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The Zero Turnover Sales Force. How to maximize revenue by keeping your sales team intact . Doug McLeod. 2010 ISBN 9780814415603. This is the best sales management book ever. It is also a tremendous guide for anyone on the sales field, old dogs through to the bright newbies.  In one well written, easily read volume reside the truths about high revenue sales management and what to do, step by step.  This book reflects generation five of selling.  Such things as :

• No more cold calling ever since cold calling immediately puts the sale person at a disadvantage and loses the firm big money
• Dump the 100 % commission selling and never try it again, unless you love to lose money
• Its all about the customer now – never about you and your company
• Be honest and forthright – like the best sales people have always been
• Create your numbers in the real world – not wishful thinking
• Do not waste anyones time – especially your sales forces
• Zero turnover in salespeople makes you  huge big bucks
• The right training matters

Do not wait, buy this book right now – it is a key weapon in your sales arsenal. A bonus is the list at the end of important other books to read.

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Lemonade Stand Simple. Accelerate your small business growth. Diane Helbig.20098. ISBN 9780981800462.  This is a Sales Gravy Press book – so it will deliver on what it promises.  This is sales reduced to the simplest essence you could ever find.  It has good examples, good explanations and is an easy quick useful read. If there any parts of the sales story that you do not understand, this is like the Coles Notes version (Coles got me through English 200  the first time) in that you get exactly what you need.

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Priceless. The myth of fair value (and how to take advantage of it). William Poundstone. 2010 ISBN 9780809094691.  A fascinating, useful and well written book.  This author is an expert in this area.   If you have ever bought a car, negotiated with your child or been to an auction, the author is talking directly to you.  The field is called psycophysics and Poundstone brings it to life.  After you read this you will understand how anchoring your sell with a very high price is better for getting the highest price, why he who sets his price first has the advantage, how web pages are using background images to prime readers to make decisions and where union negotiators have a winning plan regardless of the outcome.  Ever wonder how the Sierra Club negotiates and will always come out ahead of the resource companies?   He tells you why you ignore what clients say they want and watch what they do.  This is a must read for the CEO, CFO, CMO  and every consumer.

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Selling to the C-suite : what every executive wants you to know about successfully selling to the top. Nicholas A.C. Read and Stephen J. Bistritz. 2010. ISBN 9780071628914.  This is the next read in your growth as a super sales person  titled  listen to the words of the client.   The authors did exhaustive interviews with executives as to what they wanted from a vendor, what they got and what was important to them.  This should open most of your eyes folks.  It is really good material. For example, most executives are closely involved long before the sales person learns about an opportunity, and by then it is likely  the worst time to approach the C Suite.  The book has terrific ideas for doing the homework that is necessary and how this changes from culture to culture.  The sectiopn on China is worth the price of the book.  Simple down to earth advice, easy to read but do not whip through this book, it is too valuable a read.  Their blog http://www.sellingtothec-suite.com.

more articles about the book http://www.salesandmarketing.com/msg/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004001881
http://www.salesandmarketing.com/msg/content_display/publications/e3id519a27d3f06495af655298805bdaeb2

Other sources on this topic http://www.closebiz.org/images/Selling_to_the_C-Suite.pdf

If the rest of the books I look at in 2010 are as good as this I am really looking forward to them

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• Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager. Lee B. Salz (regnordman.com)

I hope every salesman finds this a joke and no longer the truth.

A man dies and finds himself at the Pearly Gates with both St. Peter and the devil. St. Peter says, “You’re not supposed to die for another ten years. We’ll have to send you back.” The man is thrilled, but on his way out he sees one door to Heaven and another to Hell.
He hears a raging party behind the door to Hell and asks the evil standing guard if he can take a peek. The devil says, “Only for a minute.” So he goes through the door to Hell and finds an incredible party, with endless food, champagne, music, and every rock star from history beckoning him to join them. He says, “If this is Hell, I want in‘
When he returns to Earth, he spends the next decade coming every sin he knows, and a few he had to look up on the Internet. Ten years to the day, he dies and meets the devil in front of the door to Hell. As the door opens, he hears no music and sees no party; only brimstone, fire, and the wailing of a thousand damned souls.
He cries, “Wait Where’s the party?‘ The devil smiles and xplains, “Oh, ten years ago you were a prospect. Now you’re a customer.”

From Selling to the C-suite : what every executive wants you tc know about successfully selling to the top / by Nicholas A.C. Read and Stephen J. Bistritz.

Repositioning. Markeitng in an era of competition, change and crisis. Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin.  2009. ISBN 9780071635592. This is an update after 30 years.   With “Repositioning,” you can conquer the “3 Cs” of business: Competition, Change, and Crisis . . .

• BEAT THE COMPETITION: Challenge your rivals, differentiate your product, increase your value, and stand out in the crowd.
• CHANGE WITH THE TIMES: Use the latest technologies, communications, and multimedia resources to connect with your consumers.
• MANAGE A CRISIS: Cope with everything from profi t losses and rising costs to bad press and PR nightmares.

I really like Trouts writing style.  He always tries to simplify marketing for all of us. This is the mark (to me)  of someone who really understands what he is talking about.

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Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager. Lee B. Salz. 2007. ISBN 9780832950094.   I previously posted Salz’s ideas for sales people looking for work (Time to look for a new sales job? New and seasoned sales guys???? )   The rest of the book is as brilliant.  This is a book which truly architects a salesman’ s success, despite their manager or lack of a manager and little help from marketing.   Much useful and familiar content such as :

• How do you really differentiate your product/service?
• Look at the buyers process, not a selling process.
• What are you doing for personal growth?

What is your ideal client?

• Size?
• Circumstances (new vs takeaway?)
• Process?
• Budget?
• Buying habits?

Who are the personalities in a client?

• Beneficiaries?
• Saboteurs?
• Mentors?
• Wizards (he who pays)?

His chapters on territory management and responding to RFPs are better than anything I have seen in a long time.

If there is something missing it would be the extensive work of Sharon Drew  Morgen on the the early identification of stuff that will get in the way of the sale. Her material is unbeaten at the qualifying stage, to make you more efficient as well as more effective.  Plus you really do need to get marketing to help you with some of this stuff, if you can.

See lots of Lees content belowhttp://changingminds.org/articles/lee_salz_articles.htm

Well written, clear and a great guide, this is a book for every salesperson to have in his library, I would keep in your bag, as the tips and examples are of great immediate use.

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Time to look for a new sales job?.

I am devouring a book called Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager. (www.wbusiness.biz) by Lee B. Salz. (Maybe a theme developing?) This is a good book (Review will follow)  His second chapter is all about finding the right sales job and I loved it.  He talks about interviewing  the company while they interview you  since you have as much to lose as the company by signing up for the wrong job.

Its usually the wrong job if:

• The company has no proven plan in place to help salesmen succeed
• The company hires  hunters but you see they need farmers
• They want strong salespeople with no idea what strong really means
• The manager is stuck in ABC thinking
• There is no demand for the product, yet no plans to develop it.
• Or there is no name recognition, no brand, few marketing dollars, no prospects calling in

Sound familiar? It rang my bell a few times. we have seen all this and more in helpin gtech companies through the year.  Here’[s a clue, if you do not see why this is a costly problem for you, do not worry, your company will not make it anyway.

Points about finidng the ideal company (like finding the ideal client right? ) :

1. Define what is the ideal company for you
2. Where and what are the opportunities for you?
3. What do they expect of a sales person? What do you expect of them?
4. What skills are they willing to teach? What do you want to learn?
5. What is their commitment to training and development? What is your commitment?
6. What won’t they teach?What don’t you want to be taught?
7. What do they feel can’t be taught?
8. Services sellers need to know how to customize, configure and create based on customer requirements. Are you that type?
9. Product sellers are limited by what the box does. Is that your success type?
10. Did you thrive on short cycle or long cycle sales?
11. Same with single buyers or multiple enterprise buyers?
12. What type of hunter are you? Do you generate your own leads or answer in-bounds?
13. Are you able to straddle the likable/driven divide of the farmer?
14. How do you adapt to change? How flexible are you? Is the comp plan overly  changable?
15. What is the size of your financial risk? Will your cheques clear?
16. Where do they stand with the competition; leaders. followers. laggards, off the radar?  Which do you prefer?
17. Are they boutique or low price?  Where do they win or lose sales?
18. What is the offering breadth? All of it, or just part of the puzzle?
19. How do they differentiate themselves? Do you believe it?
20. How is sales managed? Your preferance?
21. What sales support is there?  Proof materials?
22. The money; salary, recoverable/nonrecoverable draws, commission how does it all work together?  What defines revenue? What about chargebacks?
23. Any deal breakers such as ; pay is too low to survive on , commute too long, location?

Told you it was thorough. This is just Chapter 2!

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