An innovative approach to winning more profitable sales in the growing professional services industry In recent years, professional services providers have had to rethink their sales methods and adapt to profound changes in the way clients buy services. In response, Winning the Professional Services Sale argues for fundamental changes in the seller's mindset and sales strategies. Rather than pressing the sale, salespeople must help clients buy--the way that works best for each client. This new approach gives buyers what they now want in a services seller: a consultative problem solver, change agent, and solution integrator, all rolled into one. Author Michael McLaughlin presents a strategy for winning new business with a holistic approach to each client relationship. Only by fully understanding a sale from every angle, including its impact on the client's business and career, can salespeople thrive in the new era of the service economy.

A proven approach to revenue-generating marketing and client development Professional Services Marketing is a fully field-tested and research-based approach to marketing and client development for professional services firms. The book, now in its Second Edition, covers five key areas that are critical for firms that want to grow and become more profitable: creating a marketing and growth strategy; establishing a brand and reputation; implementing a marketing communications program; executing lead generation strategies; and developing business by winning new clients. You will also read real-world case studies that illustrate major points, as well as quotes and stories from well-respected professionals in the industry. The Second Edition features new research and updates throughout, including new chapters on social media and online marketing, as well as new case studies and interviews Authors Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr are the coauthors of the Wall Street Journal and Inc. Magazine bestseller Rainmaking Conversations and Professional Services Marketing; Lee W. Frederiksen is coauthor of Online Marketing for Professional Services Will be widely promoted via multiple online routes and direct mail marketing Firms of any size can use this proven approach to marketing and client development to attract new clients and grow their professional service businesses.

The real-world guide to selling your services and bringing in business How Clients Buy is the much-needed guide to selling your services. If you're one of the millions of people whose skills are the 'product,' you know that you cannot be successful unless you bring in clients. The problem is, you're trained to do your job—not sell it. No matter how great you may be at your actual role, you likely feel a bit lost, hesitant, or 'behind' when it comes to courting clients, an unfamiliar territory where you're never quite sure of the line between under- and over-selling. This book comes to the rescue with real, practical advice for selling what you do. You'll have to unlearn everything you know about sales, but then you'll learn new skills that will help you make connections, develop rapport, create interest, earn trust, and turn prospects into clients. Business development is critical to your personal success, and your skills in this area will dictate the course of your career. This invaluable guide gives you a set of real-world best practices that can help you become the rainmaker you want to be. Get the word out and make productive connections Drop the fear of self-promotion and advertise your accomplishments Earn potential clients' trust to build a lasting relationship Scrap the sales pitch in favor of honesty, positivity, and value Working in the consulting and professional services fields comes with difficulties not encountered by those who sell tangible products. Services are often under-valued, and become among the first things to go when budgets get tight. It is now harder than ever to sell professional services, so your game must be on-point if you hope to out-compete the field. How Clients Buy shows you how to level up and start winning the client list of your dreams.

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.

ACHIEVE the HIGHEST LEVEL of PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP - BECOMING an INDISPENSABLE PARTNER in YOUR CLIENT'S SUCCESS Are you looking for the keys to far more successful sales relationships, and client conversations that don't require manipulation, probing, and closing - yet which produce profoundly more powerful impact and results? The Ultimate Sales Revolution clarifies how to reach the highest level of professional relationship - being an Indispensable Partner in your client's success. You attain this exalted level of trust, respect, and differentiation from your competition by ensuring that every client request and activity delivers meaningful results, builds the strongest and most sustainable client relationship, avoids the 3 Sources of Miscommunication, and delivers massive value and impact. Each of the principles in this book transforms your ability to win business, get paid for your value (not your time, effort, or activity), and earn the access, recognition, respect, and rewards reserved for the most successful sales people and privileged professional services providers. Inside are the keys that promise to significantly advance your professional enjoyment, impact, and most importantly... your results.

Learn the secrets of how recurring revenue is driven at expert firms like BCG, KPMG, EY, and more Never Say Sell: How the World's Best Consulting and Professional Services Firms Expand Client Relationships explains how to scale individual engagements into long-term business relationships. Cowritten by Tom McMakin, the coauthor of How Clients Buy and expert in account development, and colleague Jacob Parks, this book provides insights from key rainmakers at firms like Accenture, IBM, and more into how they drive growth from existing relationships. Never Say Sell is a business development guide for professional service providers like consultants, accountants, and lawyers, whether they are sole proprietors or members of account teams tasked with expanding key accounts. Doing good work with existing clients is not enough to have them come back to you again and again. You must do more. This book explores the techniques and methods that leading professional service providers use to add value, cross sell, and drive recurring revenue from existing engagements. Never Say Sell will help you turn one-and-done clients into some of your most exciting and lucrative relationships. It is a must-have for any professional who benefits from repeat business.

Master these top-performing sales skills to dominate the marketplace Critical Selling is a dynamic and powerful guide for transforming your sales approach and outperforming your competition. This book is based on Janek Performance Group's, an award winning sales performance company, most popular sales training program, Critical Selling®. Let authors Justin Zappulla and Nick Kane, Managing Partners at Janek, lead you through their flagship sales training methodology to provide you with the strategies, skills and best practices you need to accelerate the sales process and close more deals. From the initial contact to closing the deal, this book details the winning strategies and skills that have supercharged the sales force of program alumni like OptumHealth, Santander Bank, Daimler Trucks, California Casualty, and many more. Concrete, actionable steps show you how to plan a productive sales call, identify customer needs, differentiate yourself from the competition, and wrap up the sale. You'll also learn proven techniques for building rapport, overcoming objections, dealing with price pressures, and handling the million little things that can derail an otherwise positive sales interaction. Sales are the lifeblood of your company. Are they meeting your expectations? What if you could exceed projected sales figures and blow your competition out of the water? This book provides the research-based framework to ignite your sales team and excite your customer base, for sustainable success in today's market. Let Critical Selling® show you how to: Connect with customers on a deeper level to build trust Present a persuasive and value-based solution tailored to your customer’s needs Handle pricing pressure, doubt, and objections with confidence Utilize proven methodologies that help you close the sale Sales is about so much more than exchanging goods or services for cash. It's about relationships, it's about outperforming the competition, it's about demonstrating real value, and it's about understanding and solving people's problems. Critical Selling shows you how to bring it all together, using proven techniques based on real sales performance research.

There are only three outcomes to a potential sales opportunity; either you will win it, lose it or no decision is made. Connective Selling is about understanding how people buy so you can make the right move at the right time in the sales process. Designed for ?big ticket? work, the Connective Selling model is equally applicable in all sales situations. It?s about earning respect and trust by knowing your client?s business and addressing their problems. It?s about solving their issues and helping them succeed. It tells you what to talk about, and when, and how to really hear what your contacts are saying. Ultimately, it?s about the importance of building rapport and relationships to win business. SPIN selling has been the dominant technique for the past decade but Connective Selling makes the sales process easier and more sophisticated. The practical ?8 junction? approach will help you sell effectively without the ?hard sell?. Connective Selling is for salespeople who want to win business with techniques that really work.

When you help your customers and clients make profitable business decisions, the result is a win-win solution that can lead to a mutually beneficial long-term business relationship. In Consultative Selling, sales consultant Mack Hanan helps you achieve just that by introducing a formula that will take your sales to the next level--one that involves you exchanging your salesperson hat for that of a trusted consultant. You’ll learn how to: create a two-tiered sales model to separate consultative sales from commodity sales; build and use consultative databases for value propositions and proof of performance; study your customers’ cash flows to win proposals; use consultative selling strategies on the web; and cope with--and reverse--the inevitable “no.” For over four decades, Consultative Selling has empowered countless sales professionals to reap maximum success. Now, packed with new partnering strategies, cost/benefit analysis templates, detailed monetized value proposition models, outcome-based branding approaches, and powerful consulting tactics, the eighth edition of this invaluable resource will bring you wide-ranging success--making the competition irrelevant.

In the high-pressure quest to make a sale, acquire a contract, and beat out other bidders, sales professionals frequently resort to cutting prices, offering discounts, or making other concessions that cut into their operating marginsùshort-term strategies that are destructive to the long-term sustainability of their business. High-Profit Selling helps readers understand that their sales goal shouldn't simply be to sell more, but to sell more at a higher priceàand that success comes only to those focused on ôprofitable sales.ö This eye-opening book shows readers how to: Avoid negotiating ò Actively listen to customers ò Match the benefits of their product or service with the customer's needs and pains ò Confidently communicate value ò Successfully execute a price increase with existing customers ò Ensure prospects are serious and not shopping for price Too many salespeople believe that a sale at any price is better than no sale at all. This powerful guide helps move readers toward a profit-centered approach that will strength en their relationships and increase their bottom line.