New Sales. Simplified.

New Sales. Simplified.

by MIKE WEINBERG, S. Anthony Iannarino
Released September 2012
Publisher(s): AMACOM
ISBN: 9780814431788

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description


No matter how much repeat business you get from loyal customers, the lifeblood of your business is a constant flow of new accounts. Whether you’re a sales rep, sales manager, or a professional services executive, if you are expected to bring in new business, you need a proven formula for prospecting, developing, and closing deals. New Sales. Simplified. is the answer. You’ll learn how to:

• Identify a strategic, finite, workable list of genuine prospects
• Draft a compelling, customer-focused “sales story”
• Perfect the proactive telephone call to get face-to-face with more prospects
• Use email, voicemail, and social media to your advantage
• Overcome—even prevent—every buyer’s anti-salesperson reflex
• Build rapport, because people buy from people they like and trust
• Prepare for and structure a winning sales call
• Stop presenting and start dialoguing with buyers
• Make time in your calendar for business development activities
• And much more

Packed with examples and anecdotes, New Sales. Simplified. balances a blunt (and often funny) look at what most salespeople and executives do wrong with an easy-to-follow plan for ramping up new business starting today.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword by S. Anthony Iannarino
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
  8. Chapter 1 Sales Simplified and a Dose of Blunt Truth
    1. The Groundwork for a Simple Sales Model
    2. Why All the Craziness and Fear About Prospecting?
    3. So Many Salespeople Are Struggling: What Happened?
    4. Confusion Reigns: Sales 2.0 and the Projected Death of Prospecting
    5. Where Did All the Sales Mentors Go?
  9. Chapter 2 The “Not-So-Sweet 16” Reasons Salespeople Fail at New Business Development
    1. They Haven’t Had To or Don’t Know How
    2. They Are Always Waiting (on the Company)
    3. They Are “Prisoners of Hope”
    4. They Can’t “Tell the Story”
    5. They Have Awful Target Account Selection and a Lack of Focus
    6. They Are “Late to the Party”
    7. They Have a Negative Attitude and Pessimistic Outlook
    8. They Are Guilty of a Fake or Pitiful Phone Effort
    9. They Are Not Likable, Don’t Adapt Their Style, and Have Low EQ
    10. They Can’t Conduct an Effective Sales Call
    11. They Love to Babysit Their Existing Accounts
    12. They Are Busy Being Good Corporate Citizens
    13. They Don’t Own Their Own Sales Process
    14. They Don’t Use and Protect Their Calendar
    15. They Stopped Learning and Growing
    16. Honestly, They Are Not Built for It
  10. Chapter 3 The Company’s Responsibility for Sales Success
    1. Why Sales Coaching Develops into Consulting
    2. Sales Follows Strategy: Mr. CEO, Please Do Your Job So I Can Do Mine!
    3. A Low View of Sales: Dumping Garbage on the Sales Manager’s Desk
    4. Heavy Service Burden and the Hybrid Hunter-Farmer Sales Role
    5. Illogical and Unhelpful Compensation Plans
    6. Mistrust, Micromanagement, and Treating the Sales Team Like Children
  11. Chapter 4 A Simple Framework for Developing New Business
    1. Born Out of Failure
    2. Documented Out of Necessity
    3. The Simplest of Models
    4. A Bold Declaration
  12. Chapter 5 Selecting Targets: First for a Reason
    1. Selecting Target Accounts Is a Rare Opportunity to Be Strategic
    2. Your Target List Must Be Finite, Focused, Written, and Workable
    3. Segmenting Your Existing Accounts
    4. Preparing for Target Selection: The Who and Why Questions
    5. Making the Most of Referral and Indirect Selling
    6. Resources for Identifying Targets
    7. Pursuing Your Dream Targets
    8. Targeting Contacts Higher in the Customer Organization
    9. Questions for Reflection
  13. Chapter 6 Our Sales Weapons: What’s in the Arsenal?
    1. Marshaling the Weapons in Your Arsenal
    2. Questions for Reflection
  14. Chapter 7 Your Most Important Sales Weapon
    1. Most Companies, Executives, and Salespeople Don’t Have an Effective Story
    2. Your Sales Story Is Not About You
    3. Telling the Story Is a Lost Art: Whatever Happened to Puffery?
    4. Differentiation and Justifying Premium Pricing
    5. A Great Story Produces Confidence and Pride
    6. Questions for Reflection
  15. Chapter 8 Sharpening Your Sales Story
    1. Our Story Must Pass the “So What?” Test
    2. Three Critical Building Blocks for a Compelling Story
    3. Why Lead with Client Issues?
    4. Drafting the Power Statement
    5. A Couple of Sample Power Statements
    6. The Sales Story Exercise
    7. What We Can Do Now
    8. The Commodity Antidote
    9. Questions for Reflection
  16. Chapter 9 Your Friend the Phone
    1. Erase the Tapes in Your Mind and Let’s Start Over
    2. Your Mindset Matters
    3. Our Voice Tone and Approach Matters, Too
    4. Script or No Script?
    5. Why Are We Calling? Laser Focus on the Objective
    6. Stop Overqualifying
    7. Favorite Introductory Phrases for a Great Start
    8. Crafting Your Telephone Mini Power Statement
    9. For the Inside Rep: Build a Bridge
    10. Ask for the Meeting, Ask Again, and Once More
    11. Three Magic Words
    12. Winning with Voice Mail
    13. Questions for Reflection
  17. Chapter 10 Mentally Preparing for the Face-to-Face Sales Call
    1. It’s Your Call; You Need a Plan
    2. Avoid Defaulting to the Buyer’s Process
    3. Bring a Pad and Pen; Please Leave the Projector at Home
    4. God Gave You Two Ears and One Mouth
    5. Selling from the Same Side of the Table
    6. Questions for Reflection
  18. Chapter 11 Structuring Winning Sales Calls
    1. The Phases of a Winning Sales Call
    2. Build Rapport and Identify the Buyer’s Style
    3. Share Your Agenda and Set Up the Call
    4. Clean Up Their Issues
    5. Deliver the Power Statement
    6. Ask Probing Questions: Discovery
    7. Sell
    8. Determine Fit and Seek Out Objections
    9. Define and Schedule the Next Step
    10. Questions for Reflection
  19. Chapter 12 Preventing the Buyer’s Reflex Resistance to Salespeople
    1. It’s Not Your Fault, but It Is Your Problem
    2. Shaping How the Customer Perceives You
    3. Preventing and Minimizing the Buyer’s Resistance
    4. Questions for Reflection
  20. Chapter 13 I Thought I Was Supposed to Make a Presentation
    1. Why I Hate the Word Presentation
    2. Redeeming the PowerPoint Presentation
    3. Discovery Must Precede Presentation, So Insist on a Meeting
    4. When the Prospect Will Not Meet with You Before the Presentation
    5. Break the Mold to Set Yourself Apart
  21. Chapter 14 Planning and Executing the Attack
    1. No One Defaults to Prospecting Mode
    2. Time Blocking
    3. The Math Works; Work the Math
    4. Writing Your Individual Business Plan
    5. Preplanning Travel: Why Southwest Airlines Is My Sales Force One
    6. A Balanced Effort Produces a Balanced Pipeline
    7. Questions for Reflection
  22. Chapter 15 Rants, Raves, and Reflections
    1. Manners Matter
    2. Attitude Is Contagious
    3. Your Appearance and Image Send a Message
    4. Go After the Giant Competitor and Play to Win
    5. Winners Get in the Office Early and in the Deal Early
    6. Take Real Vacations and Stay Off the Grid
    7. Team Selling: Make the Most of Your Resources
    8. Beware Who Is Telling You Not to Prospect
  23. Chapter 16 New Business Development Selling Is Not Complicated
    1. There Is No Magic Bullet
    2. New Sales Success Results from Executing the Basics Well
  24. Index
  25. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: New Sales. Simplified.
  • Author(s): MIKE WEINBERG, S. Anthony Iannarino
  • Release date: September 2012
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814431788