Winning the Professional Services Sale-Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity | Date: 28 April 2011, 05:57
|
Winning the Professional Services Sale: Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity
By Michael W. McLaughlin
* Publisher: Wiley
* Number Of Pages: 224
* Publication Date: 2009-07-20
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0470455853
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780470455852
Product Description:
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.
Michael W. McLaughlin is the coauthor of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants and a principal with MindShare Consulting LLC, a firm that creates innovative sales and marketing strategies for professional services companies. Before founding MindShare Consulting, he was a partner with Deloitte Consulting.
Summary: Shows how to succeed by making your clients successful
Rating: 4
As I first started reading, I got the impression this book was written primarily for service providers dealing with big, corporate type clients. I was bummed out, since I'm a small firm dealing with small to midsize businesses and didn't think the book would help me.
However, as I continued to read further, I discovered a practical goldmine of valuable and actionable information regarding dealing with decision makers and buyers of all size companies, a section on how to write winning sales proposals, and how to deal with your clients after you make the sale.
Bottom line: Buy it! This book will be valuable to any service providers that need to sell there solutions to businesses of all sizes, from 1 man shops to big corporations.
Summary: I think this could be the #1 sales book for 2009
Rating: 5
A very valuable book and at the front of my line to be the sales book for 2009 IMHO. There is just too much great stuff in this book to summarize for you. The author published with Jay Levinson Guerilla Marketing for Consultants, which I also found very useful. The core (book jacket) is rather than pressing the sale, salespeople must help clients buy-the way that works best for each client. 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. He really makes the point that selling is getting harder all the time, and the pro salesman must always search for and learn new things. I really liked hearing his comments on long term clients expecting more from you over time as well as expecting you to be always getting faster at doing it.
Summary: Improve Your Sales Process Enormously
Rating: 5
To say that "out-of-the-box" thinking is a critical skill for today's fiercely competitive business world is a truism and in that regard alone Michael McLaughlin's new book "Winning the Professional Services Sale" will improve your business development process enormously with its "unconventional strategies." But creative aproaches are not the be-all and end-all of success since often we need to simultaneously include good old-fashioned common sense in our dealings. "Winning" makes that point too, again and again, so that it doesn't get lost. A combo of both-- innovation and mature judgement-- spells success. Pick up a copy of this book so that a lot more of that (success!) can quickly come your way.
Summary: Wisdom, not just information
Rating: 5
If you are a service professional of any type, this is an essential addition to your bookshelf. It is written in a breezy, easy-to-read, at times humorous style that makes absorbing its in-depth, battle-tested content an enjoyable task. Michael McLaughlin, who earned his stripes as a senor partner at Deloitte, gives the reader practical, step-by-step guidance for how to win every sale. His insight into the mind of the client is both penetrating and lighthearted. This book will help you avoid the mistakes that most professionals make on a regular basis (e.g., jumping too quickly to write a proposal, focusing too much on you/your firm, overloading the client with PowerPoint slides, not being memorable, spouting platitudes, not spending sufficient time to really understand the client's goals and issues, and so on). More importantly, if you follow only 50% of McLaughlin's guidance, you will increase your proposal win rate.
Summary: An easy read that teaches you a lot
Rating: 5
I picked this book up to read on a flight home. I have been consulting for over 30 years and quickly found this to be one of the most insightful books written about selling consulting services. I usually skim a book's introduction, but I read this one twice... it lays out a precise framework that McLaughlin will then build around in the rest of the book. His basic Connect - Collaborate - Commit framework succinctly nails how the nature of professional services sales has changed. He consistently takes conventional wisdom and changes how you think about it. The value of this book is how McLaughlin gets you clearly focused on not only what is important, but how to do each step.
Even if you don't immediately read the entire book, each "Sanity Check" tip box is worth reading as soon as you get a copy. These are practical, immediately implementable tips that will quickly improve how you interact with your potential clients. Kudos to Michael McLaughlin for a great business book that cuts through the jargon and gives you perspectives that you can actually apply.
P.S. You also have to love anyone who can paraphrase a Ricky Ricardo / Lucille Ball quote and work it into a business book (page 36)!
|
DISCLAIMER:
This site does not store Winning the Professional Services Sale-Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity on its server. We only index and link to Winning the Professional Services Sale-Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete Winning the Professional Services Sale-Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
|
 |
|
Comments (0)
All
