The New Strategic Selling: Summary Review
This is a summary review of The New Strategic Selling containing key details about the book.
What is The New Strategic Selling About?
The New Strategic Selling is a guidebook that teaches salespeople how to build strong relationships with clients and increase sales through effective communication and strategic planning.
The New Strategic Selling presented the idea of selling as a joint venture and introduced the decade's most influential concept, Win-Win. The response to Win-Win was immediate, and it helped to turn Miller Heiman, the small company that created Strategic Selling®, into a global leader in sales and development with the most prestigious client list in the industry.The New Strategic Selling is the latest edition of the business classic and confronts the rapidly evolving world of business-to-business sales with new real-world examples, new strategies for confronting the competition and a special section featuring the most commonly asked questions from the Miller Heiman workshop.
Summary Points & Takeaways from The New Strategic Selling
Some key summary points and takeaways from the book includes:
* The New Strategic Selling is a sales method that emphasizes the importance of understanding a customer’s business needs.
* The SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff) selling method is introduced as a means of asking the right questions to uncover a customer's needs.
* The author argues that the traditional approach to selling, where salespeople focus on features and benefits, is outdated.
* Building relationships and trust with customers is crucial in the new strategic selling approach.
* Salespeople must also adapt to changing market conditions and customer preferences.
* Collaboration with other departments, such as marketing and customer service, is also emphasized for creating a holistic and customer-centric approach.
* The role of technology in sales is discussed, including the use of data and automation for better decision-making and customer engagement.
* The author stresses the importance of continuous learning and improvement in sales, as the marketplace and customer needs are constantly evolving.
Who is the author of The New Strategic Selling?
Robert B Miller brings almost 40 years' experience in sales, consulting and executive management to help clients succeed in the sales arena. Stephen E Heiman has worked in sales development for over 30 years.
Book Details
- Print length: 448 pages
- Genre: Business, Nonfiction
What is a good quote from The New Strategic Selling?
Top Quote: “When people come to you online, they are not looking for TV commercials. They are looking for information to help them make a decision.” - The New Strategic Selling Quotes, David Meerman Scott
Summary Notes
The Winning Combination: Harmonizing Strategy and Tactics in Sales
Just as a successful football team needs a carefully considered game plan to win, a thriving sales approach requires both strategy and tactics. Many companies make the mistake of neglecting strategy and solely focusing on tactics, but the truth is that these two elements go hand in hand.
The importance of strategy lies in its role as the overarching plan for selling products or services. It is the homework done before the sales process begins, setting out the long-term goals and objectives. On the other hand, tactics are the actions taken during the sales process to achieve short-term objectives, such as making individual sales.
A solid strategy is essential for lasting success in sales, just as a football team cannot go into battle without organizing their troops first. Without a clear plan, sales representatives risk running into roadblocks and inefficiencies, hindering their ability to achieve meaningful results.
However, strategy alone is not enough. Tactics are the driving force that allows the salesperson to execute the strategy effectively. By employing clever tactics, salespeople can secure quick wins and individual sales. But the real success lies in aligning these tactics with the long-term needs of the clients.
The synergy between strategy and tactics is crucial because they cover different aspects of the sales process. While tactics focus on immediate sales, strategy addresses the bigger picture, such as building and maintaining client relationships for future opportunities.
In the sales arena, short-term and long-term objectives are intertwined, and the success of one depends on the other. Clever tactics might secure a quick sale, but without a solid strategy that considers the client's long-term needs, they may not return for future deals or recommend the salesperson to others.
The Power of Positioning: Crafting a Winning Sales Strategy
Before embarking on any successful sales strategy, the first step is to assess your company's current position in the market. Just like a military strategist must understand their position relative to their opponent, a salesperson needs to comprehend the variables and context surrounding their business and competitors.
Analyzing your position involves defining potential changes in your industry, market, or environment that could impact your business. This includes factors like the stock price of your buyers, the behavior of raw material suppliers, or emerging technologies. By identifying these elements, you can discern both threats and opportunities.
Distinguishing between threats and opportunities is critical to formulating an effective strategy. Threats may include customer preferences shifting towards competitors, while opportunities may arise from cost-reducing technologies or changing market trends that favor your offerings.
Having thoroughly analyzed your position, the next step is to define a precise and focused sales objective. This objective should be specific, measurable, and time-bound. Rather than setting vague goals like "Get x chain to buy TVs," define a clear objective such as "Get x chain to order a trial package of 100 4G TVs by August 1st."
Crafting a winning sales strategy relies on understanding where you stand in the market, acknowledging the potential challenges and opportunities, and setting a well-defined objective to work towards. By starting with a robust positioning assessment, you can chart a course that maximizes your chances of success and propels your company towards its sales goals.
Navigating Complex Sales: Identifying Key Players for Success
In today's complex sales landscape, success goes beyond dealing with a single decision-maker in another organization. To close deals effectively, sales professionals must identify and engage with multiple individuals who play crucial roles in the buying process. Understanding these key players and their influence is vital for modern sales strategies.
Four essential roles to consider when selling a product or service are economic buying influence, user buying influence, technical buyer influence, and the role of a trusted coach.
1. Economic Buying Influence: These individuals hold the ultimate authority over the sale, as they are responsible for arranging the payment between the parties. Examples of economic buying influencers may include financial directors or product managers who have the final say on financial matters.
2. User Buying Influence: The focus here is on those who will use or administer the product or service. Understanding the impact of the sale on their daily work experience is crucial in gaining their support. Engaging with user buying influencers allows salespeople to address specific needs and concerns, ensuring smoother adoption of the offering.
3. Technical Buyer Influence: Technical buyers possess the knowledge and expertise to assess potential suppliers and evaluate options. Lawyers overseeing contracts and legal issues, or accountants calculating costs related to the sale, fall under this category. Establishing rapport with technical buyers helps build credibility and trust during the negotiation process.
4. Trusted Coach: A coach can be a valuable ally throughout the sales process. They may be from the client's organization or the salesperson's, but the key is that they already trust both the individual and the product or service being offered. A credible coach helps facilitate effective communication and understanding between the salesperson and the other buying influencers, increasing the likelihood of successful deals for all parties involved.
Turning Red Flags into Opportunities: Leveraging Strengths in Sales Strategy
In the sales process, recognizing red flags is crucial to avoiding potential threats that could hinder success. Red flags indicate areas where salespeople need to exercise caution and take corrective action to stay on track. However, savvy sales professionals can transform these weaknesses into strengths, turning red flags into opportunities.
Common red flags include overconfidence in available information and the introduction of new individuals in the client company. Salespeople should always double-check their information and not rely solely on assumptions. Additionally, approaching new stakeholders with caution until their stance on the deal is clear can prevent potential roadblocks.
An insurance salesman's experience illustrates the power of identifying and addressing red flags. When an external consultant joined the client's company during a crucial negotiation, the salesman saw it as a potential threat. Instead of ignoring the red flag, he proactively engaged with the consultant, transforming her from a potential obstacle into a valuable ally.
To turn red flags into advantages, salespeople should leverage their strengths to address weaknesses. For example, if the user buyer shows interest in the sale while the economic buyer remains hesitant, the salesperson can use the user buyer's enthusiasm as leverage. By involving the user buyer as a coach for the sale, their passion and endorsement may influence the economic buyer's decision positively.
Decoding Buying Influences: Understanding Response Modes for Effective Proposals
To succeed in sales, it's essential to identify potential changes in the market, whether they are opportunities or threats. However, sales professionals must be cautious as changes perceived as opportunities may actually be viewed as threats by buying influences. The key to navigating this complexity is to understand how your buying influences feel about potential sales and tailor proposals accordingly.
Buyers engage with proposals when they seek to change their current situation. Therefore, any alterations to the proposal must align with their desires and move them closer to their goals. Whether the goals involve quality, quantity, or other aspects of a product, the aim is to diminish the discrepancy between what buyers have and what they want.
To gauge the response mode of buying influences, pay attention to their language and expressions. Growth mode is characterized by the desire to eliminate discrepancies swiftly, with a focus on seeking options and expecting change. Buying influences in growth mode frequently use words like "better," "faster," and "improved."
On the other hand, trouble mode reflects a desire for an immediate change to escape a negative situation. In contrast to growth mode, trouble mode buyers seek to fix existing problems rather than enhance a positive situation.
Understanding the response mode of buying influences is crucial when crafting proposals. For trouble mode buyers, proposals must offer rapid solutions to their problems. Tailoring proposals to address the specific desires and concerns of each buying influence ensures alignment with their goals and increases the likelihood of a successful sale.
Building Lasting Relationships: Prioritizing Win-Win Solutions with Buying Influences
Successful salesmanship goes beyond short-term gains; it focuses on fostering long-term relationships and satisfying customers. Instead of aiming for one-sided victories, skilled salespeople prioritize win-win situations that benefit both themselves and their buyers. Cultivating such relationships leads to repeat business, referrals, and sustained success.
The key to achieving win-win outcomes is ensuring that buyers perceive genuine value in the product or service being offered. Sales professionals must focus on providing solutions that not only benefit their own bottom line but also address the specific needs and interests of their buyers. This approach creates a win-result, where the buyer not only feels they have received a great deal but also obtains positive results from their purchase.
To identify potential win-results, salespeople must carefully assess their buyers' interests and preferences. Observing visual cues, such as awards and family pictures in the buyer's office, can offer insights into their values and priorities. However, if uncertain, salespeople can engage in attitudinal questioning to gauge how the buyer feels about the proposed solution.
Building lasting relationships with buying influences requires sincere care and consideration for their interests. Sales professionals must prioritize win-win solutions that demonstrate their commitment to meeting the buyer's needs, ultimately fostering trust and loyalty. By aligning their goals with those of the buyer, salespeople can pave the way for long-term success and mutually beneficial partnerships.
* The editor of this summary review made every effort to maintain information accuracy, including any published quotes, chapters, or takeaways. If you're interested in enhancing your personal growth, I suggest checking out my list of favorite self-development books. These books have been instrumental in my own personal development and I'm confident they can help you too.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
