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Slow Down, Sell Faster! Understand your customer’s buying process and maximize your sales. Kevin Davis.2011. ISBN978081441685.  I like Amacom , they put out great business books.  This is a completely revised/updated edition of Getting Into Your Customers head (1996) which was a good book already.  Today’s focus of learning about your clients buying process is combined with spending the time up front to dig for the value your solution brings to the prospect.  Your value(price) needs to reflect the value to the customer to solve his particular problem.  Davis lays out exactly what a new or mature salesperson needs to do at every stage, as well as giving pragmatic answers to the questions that come up  (E.G. “So give me a ballpark cost” – we know this is not a buying signal, rather is a customer asking –  is the problem worth solving and for what budget? By using the proper sequence of diagnostic questions, the answer to this one comes from the prospect)

Really good stats.

• 2% of your sales audience is likely seeking the benefit you speak of. You can not assume the other 98% are looking for it. Thus take your time talking about potential client issues and restrain yourself from talking about your solution. Premature product or benefit presentation will just raise pricing objections if you have not done the work to find out what the customer’s product value is (profits/margin improvement)
• IBM software solutions group loses 93% of the sales where they were not involved in defining the solution requirements.
• 90% of the sale takes place when you are not there.
• price and negotiations always comes up during the closing dance. You need a game plan so your company does not lose.

The icing on the cake is the final chapter, which helps the sales manager address the common issues about implementing this method. The ideas are first class and immediately useful. This is a very good book for your sales quiver.  Like most sales books it completely misses how marketing could help.

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