A manifesto for reinventing the sales function Selling Is Dead argues that selling teams and growth-motivated organizations must change to remain competitive. It presents a new selling framework based on research that indicates that buyer behavior can be modeled and that large sales and small sales are fundamentally different. This new framework provides salespeople with a practical structure for giving buyers significantly more value for their dollar-value well beyond the products and services being sold. Rather than focusing on one selling model, regardless of the type of sale, this book offers four different types of large sales and presents specific strategies for succeeding at each. Many sales organizations are systematically mismanaging their selling opportunities and failing to optimize their markets. Through effective selling models, illustrative case studies and examples, and real-world anecdotes, Selling Is Dead brings strategy and efficiency to sales-and shows every sales-based business how to reap the rewards.

SELLING DEAD PEOPLE'S THINGS is a wry, behind-the-curtain peek into the world of antiques and their obsessive owners--while still alive and after their passing. An amusing observer of the human condition, author Duane Scott Cerny entertains in illuminating, scary, sad, or frightfully funny resale tales and essays. Whether processing the estate of a hoarding beekeeper, disassembling the retro remains of an infamous haunted hospital, or conducting an impromptu appraisal during a shiva gone disturbingly wrong, every day is a twisted treasure hunt for this twenty-first-century antiques dealer. While digging deep into the basements, attics, and souls of the most interesting collectors imaginable, traveling from one odd house call to the curious next, resale predicaments will confound your every turn. Be careful where you step, watch what you touch, and gird your heart--Antiques Roadshow, this ain't!

What's the secret to sales success? If you're like most business leaders, you'd say it's fundamentally about relationships-and you'd be wrong. The best salespeople don't just build relationships with customers. They challenge them. The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades. Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale business-to-business solutions. The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles, and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance, only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance. Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products, Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money. They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives. Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection, they are assertive, pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale. The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to the average sales rep. Once you understand how to identify the Challengers in your organization, you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force. The authors explain how almost any average-performing rep, once equipped with the right tools, can successfully reframe customers' expectations and deliver a distinctive purchase experience that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and, ultimately, greater growth.

What do winners of major sales do differently than the sellers who almost won, but ultimately came in second place? Mike Schultz and John Doerr, bestselling authors and world-renowned sales experts, set out to find the answer. They studied more than 700 business-to-business purchases made by buyers who represented a total of $3.1 billion in annual purchasing power. When they compared the winners to the second-place finishers, they found surprising results. Not only do sales winners sell differently, they sell radically differently, than the second-place finishers. In recent years, buyers have increasingly seen products and services as replaceable. You might think this would mean that the sale goes to the lowest bidder. Not true! A new breed of seller—the insight seller—is winning the sale with strong prices and margins even in the face of increasing competition and commoditization. In Insight Selling, Schultz and Doerr share the surprising results of their research on what sales winners do differently, and outline exactly what you need to do to transform yourself and your team into insight sellers. They introduce a simple three-level model based on what buyers say tip the scales in favor of the winners: Level 1 "Connect." Winners connect the dots between customer needs and company solutions, while also connecting with buyers as people. Level 2 "Convince." Winners convince buyers that they can achieve maximum return, that the risks are acceptable, and that the seller is the best choice among all options. Level 3 "Collaborate." Winners collaborate with buyers by bringing new ideas to the table, delivering new ideas and insights, and working with buyers as a team. They also found that much of the popular and current advice given to sellers can damage sales results. Insight Selling is both a strategic and tactical guide that will separate the good advice from the bad, and teach you how to put the three levels of selling to work to inspire buyers, influence their agendas, and maximize value. If you want to find yourself and your team in the winner's circle more often, this book is a must-read.

True or false? In selling high-value products or services: 'closing' increases your chance of success; it is essential to describe the benefits of your product or service to the customer; objection handling is an important skill; open questions are more effective than closed questions. All false, says this provocative book. Neil Rackham and his team studied more than 35,000 sales calls made by 10,000 sales people in 23 countries over 12 years. Their findings revealed that many of the methods developed for selling low-value goods just don‘t work for major sales. Rackham went on to introduce his SPIN-Selling method. SPIN describes the whole selling process: Situation questions Problem questions Implication questions Need-payoff questions SPIN-Selling provides you with a set of simple and practical techniques which have been tried in many of today‘s leading companies with dramatic improvements to their sales performance.

Forget everything you learned about selling. Persuasion is not a sales skill—it’s a blunt instrument of last resort that sellers use when they don’t know how to influence the choices their buyers make. It’s the weapon of choice for mindless, uninspired sellers: the sales zombies who have stopped learning and stopped improving. Wouldn’t you rather learn how to master the art of selling in, by listening to what your buyers really want? In Sell without Selling Out, global sales guru, top podcaster, and entrepreneur Andy Paul shows you how to take charge of your own career without selling out to outdated, ineffective sales methods. He reveals the four Sell In pillars that are the indispensable instruments of selling: Connection, Curiosity, Understanding, Generosity. Everything else is mostly a combination of product features, technical specifications and pricing, which your buyers can get from the Internet. What they seek (and deserve) can only come from you: the human seller. If you’ve been told you need to be more “salesy” to get ahead in your career, you need this book. #DeathToSalesy

How to sell a ton of books (even if you're starting with no platform). If you've found this book I'm assuming you have or will soon have a book out on the market, and are exploring ways to turn it into a best-selling powerhouse that will slaughter the competition and pay for your retirement. The indie publishing world is thrilling because of the possible returns, and I hope you and your book do well. You're probably searching for things like "book marketing" and "book promotion" so you can learn how to find readers and convince them to buy your book. But almost everything you read will be wrong. That's because marketing in general is dead. Advertising is dead. Selling and convincing people to buy: also dead. The new law of book sales is this: if you're talking about your book, promoting your book, sharing your book... you're screwing it all up. Don't make "Old School" marketing mistakes that will sabotage your efforts! This book will help you to... Avoid the common mistakes that kill book sales Set up an author platform quickly that will triple your results Use Social Media (like an expert) without being annoying Advertise for maximum impact (at the lowest cost) Make powerful friends online who can move thousands of books Before you spend a lot of money on book marketing services or author publicity... Make sure you've plugged all the holes in your sales funnel so you're not throwing money away. If you're looking for a "Bestseller Campaign" but don't have a big budget... This book will show you plenty of ways to improve sales without spending a dime.

One of the most vocal Democrats in the Senate passionately argues that free trade is not free, and that outsourcing, offshoring, and greedy mega-corporations are destroying Americas economy.

Selling is tougher than ever before. Potential customers are under extreme pressure to do more with less money, less time, and fewer resources, and they're wary of anyone who tries to get them to buy or change anything. Under such extreme conditions, yesterday's sales strategies no longer work. No matter how great your offering, you face the daunting task of making yourself appear credible, relevant, and valuable. Now, internationally recognized sales strategist Jill Konrath shows how to overcome these obstacles to get more appointments, speed up decisions, and win sales with these short-fused, frazzled customers. Drawing on her years of selling experience, as well as the stories of other successful sellers, she offers four SNAP Rules: -Keep it Simple: When you make things easy and clear for your customers, they'll change from the status quo. -Be iNvaluable: You have to stand out by being the person your customers can't live without. -Always Align: To be relevant, make sure you're in synch with your customers' objectives, issues, and needs. -Raise Priorities: To maintain momentum, keep the most important decisions at the forefront of their mind. SNAP Selling is an easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide for any seller in today's increasingly frenzied environment.

The Grateful Dead-rock legends, marketing pioneers The Grateful Dead broke almost every rule in the music industry book. They encouraged their fans to record shows and trade tapes; they built a mailing list and sold concert tickets directly to fans; and they built their business model on live concerts, not album sales. By cultivating a dedicated, active community, collaborating with their audience to co-create the Deadhead lifestyle, and giving away "freemium" content, the Dead pioneered many social media and inbound marketing concepts successfully used by businesses across all industries today. Written by marketing gurus and lifelong Deadheads David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead gives you key innovations from the Dead's approach you can apply to your business. Find out how to make your fans equal partners in your journey, "lose control" to win, create passionate loyalty, and experience the kind of marketing gains that will not fade away!