Rating: 
Summary: A great no holds bar book
Review: Mahan Kalsa is the master of knowing when to walk away and when to go for the jugular in sales. This no holds bar book will teach you to recognize that your customers and your prospects are no more important than you. His strategies and techniques ensure you will be treated as a consultant, and not just another salesperson. Why is it that salespeople often would rather have a "maybe" than a "no?" Mahan teaches us that to be the best of the best means knowing when to walk away and focus on other priorities. His system will increase your sales immensely, by speeding up your process. 5 stars all the way!
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Summary: The Demise of 20th Century Selling: Helping Clients Succeed
Review: Selling is the second oldest profession, often confused with the first. The notion of selling carries a lot of negative baggage. As it has developed, sales has often become a fear-based relationship. Customers are afraid that they will be "sold" a bill of goods, or that a salesperson will talk them into something that doesn't help them succeed.On the other hand, salespeople fear they won't make the sale. If they "lose" enough sales, they won't make quota, and they won't personally succeed. In their quest to "close the deal", even some of the world's largest, quota-crazed organizations have, at times, developed a reputation for salespeople who are illusive, ignorant, and arrogant. Buyers don't trust sellers. Because they aren't trusted, sellers have to guess, and often guess wrong. Buyers prove themselves right and create higher hurdles. And so it goes, with neither client nor consultant achieving success. Helping client's succeed is fundamental to the success of any business. Let's Get Real teaches you to become totally client-focused, break down the barriers of dysfunctional business development, and find rewarding, productive business relationships. With honesty, clarity, and authenticity, Mahan Khalsa cuts to the chase, through the nonsense, and zeros in on helping clients succeed. "This is a marvelous book! Mahan Khalsa masterfully puts the science and art of influence and sales on higher ground. If you sincerely study the remarkable techniques wonderfully illustrated in Let's Get Real, a change in your heart and mind will probably take place. You'll relax. Your intent will change. You'll develop a new frame of reference. And the kind of effectiveness that lasts will increase exponentially." Stephen R. Covey, Author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant practical no nonsense approach to sales
Review: The contents of this book have provided me with the most practical applications to sales I have ever read. For professionals who are involved in large complex consultative sales it is a masterpiece. The book and its contents may provide less value for small uncomplicated transactional sales (or commodity based products). Any person committed to educating themselves on the philosophy and practice of this material will quantum leap their overall sales and consulting effectiveness as it has mine. Thank you Mr. Khalsa
Rating:
Summary: Practical and simple approach to a complex subjective topic.
Review: The reasoning and and flow of the book is very honest and something a sales person can confidently act upon to get results. A must read for anyone trying to sells services or solutions.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Sales Book for Real Times
Review: The title says it all. If you are in sales you must read this book. I was so impressed with Mahan's work that I have referred to it as a must read in my book, Cracking the Networking CODE- 4 steps to Priceless Business Relationships. Mr. Khalsa strikes right at the core of what it takes to be a success in sales.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for selling large deals
Review: There are literally thousands of books on selling and most leave you with the feeling that you need to shower after you have read them. This one does not. Lets get real has a reality about it and a discussion of a simple process that reenforces all the things you knew about selling. The book hits the right blend of anedotal stories -- so you can see how it would apply to you and discussion of the process elements -- so you can figure out how to apply it yourself. This is no Zig Ziglar book -- this is something I want to conciously try to use every time. The book is very clearly written and highly usable, breaking each aspect of the approach into small digestable chunks. Its something you can read and more importantly re-read/refresh yourself easily. There is one limitation of the book. It seems to be geared more toward longer multiple call sales cycles, rather than transaction selling. At least that is the way I read it. I could not see my local car dealer selling this way -- although I wish they would. This book is one that is going into my frequently read shelf. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to build commercial relationship with a client.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for selling large deals
Review: There are literally thousands of books on selling and most leave you with the feeling that you need to shower after you have read them. This one does not. Lets get real has a reality about it and a discussion of a simple process that reenforces all the things you knew about selling. The book hits the right blend of anedotal stories -- so you can see how it would apply to you and discussion of the process elements -- so you can figure out how to apply it yourself. This is no Zig Ziglar book -- this is something I want to conciously try to use every time. The book is very clearly written and highly usable, breaking each aspect of the approach into small digestable chunks. Its something you can read and more importantly re-read/refresh yourself easily. There is one limitation of the book. It seems to be geared more toward longer multiple call sales cycles, rather than transaction selling. At least that is the way I read it. I could not see my local car dealer selling this way -- although I wish they would. This book is one that is going into my frequently read shelf. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to build commercial relationship with a client.
Rating:
Summary: Shortened our sales cycle and gave sales process credibilty
Review: This book has shortened our sales cycle from a 6 month average to a 2.5 month average. No longer are we wasting money and time with customers that we can't help or don't really want help. I have always despised the hard sell, and the persuasive selling technics of so many experts in the field. Through mutual exploration we now find solutions with our clients that exactly meet thier needs or we don't do business, and we part friends - instead of trying to fulfil unknown expectations and losing the relationship forever. Using the ORDER model has given our sales process direction and is helping us develop true intent to helping our customers suceed. We are committed to this win - win philosophy. Sales Director, Interwest Consulting Group
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book; Could have been a GREAT book
Review: This book is one of the most accessible, erudite and informative books on consulting I've ever read. The conversational writing style makes the complex topic understandable. Having said that, the book has more spelling errors than any published book I've ever read. Some of them are GLARING errors too. I'm not sure if they rushed this book to press in 1999 to capitalize on the tech (read: consulting) boom that was happening at the time, but the book is very poorly edited in that regard. These are rookie mistakes. That speaks -- at some level -- to the overall credibility of the book. One of the assertions made in the book is to make sure your written proposal is well-written. If your resume (proposal) has spelling errors, that's just one more reason to disqualify you -- even if you're qualified for the job. But that shouldn't be enough to keep you from buying this book. Khalsa lays out an easy-to-follow (if not complex) framework for getting to the bottom of a client's problem and finding the right solution for them. It's a must-read if you're a consultant or if you purchase consulting services.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Real advice, but a bit too Playful
Review: This informal book is good if you do sales in a service/consulting related industry where the client may not quite know what they are looking for (or why). I really liked his ideas about trying to make presentations in person (because people don't really read proposals). There are some great tips on how to ask the right questions to find out what a potential client is really thinking. Seasoned sales professionals may find some of this advice old hat, but it's never bad to be reminded of some good basic ideas. Khalsa does have a weakness for having silly charts, acronyms and rambles a bit too long - by the end of the book I found myself wanting the author to get more to the point. But if you are new to sales or wouldn't mind a good refresher course this book is pretty useful, but by no means the definitive text on the subject.
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