A book recommendation from Dan Beaulieu.

Nonstop Sales Boom: Power Strategies to Drive Consistent Growth Year After Year

By: Colleen Francis

Copyright 2014Amacom

Price $17.95

Pages: 280 with Index

This one has it all!

Yes I’ll use the cliché, if you are going to buy and read and study and teach from and hand out one book this year, then it has to be Nonstop Sales Boom: Power Strategies to Drive Consistent Growth Year After Year because this book has everything you need to be a successful sales manager, successful sales person, successful sales team and yes a successful company.

Here are some of the facts of the business world we live in today:

• It is nearly impossible to get appointments

• Only 3% of sales occur due to cold calling

• The sales pipeline is never full enough leading to sporadic sales

• Sales people seldom meet their quotas

• There is very little customer loyalty

• Sales people are not as engaged as they once were

• Advertising the old way is brining fewer results than ever

Now okay does anyone want to stand up and argue with me about these facts?

No? I didn’t think so.

And that is exactly why I feel that Ms. Francis has written this year’s go to book about sales. Throughout the book she examines each one of these problems and more and shows us how to overcome them.

As an example in the very first chapter she list 14 reasons for sporadic sales. Here are just a few:

• Delayed buying decisions

• Emotional decision making

• Sales rep stress

• Missed opportunities

And the she addresses the issue and tells us what to do about it by developing your sales pipeline by doing the following:

• Identify the prospect

• Prequalification

• Qualification

• Solution design

• Evaluation

• Decision

• Negotiation

• Closed

The thing I like most about this book is that it provides the readers with all the modern day solutions they need to solve today’s problems. There are a couple of chapters on social media, a chapter on how to conduct a one on one meeting with a potential customer and a chapter on closing an order.

The author reveals that she is a close friend and protégé of sales guru Alan Weiss and uses his 4M approach to handling those one on one meetings.

• Maximum: what is the plan A for the meeting?

• Minimum: What is the least you want to get from the meeting?

• Move forward: taking the process to the next step

• Motivation: find a good way to motivate the buyer to make the sale.

The chapter on negotiations is worth the price of the book. In very clear and simple terms Ms. Francis shows the reader who to stand firm during negotiations. Always be ready to discuss price; never be apologetic, look the buyer in the eye and never move on the price without getting something in return and most of the time never move on price at all. Always hold firm.

One tip about your proposal that is especially valuable: “To increase your win rate on proposals, you need to present each one as a draft to every customer first.” This way you can get the customers feedback and in fact have the customer act as your advisor and help you develop the final version of your proposal. It is a great way to pre-negotiate… without negotiating, yet.

Okay I’ve given away enough already; it’s now up to you to get out there and pick this book up. It will be the best money you have spent on your career this year.