Selling The Wheel : Choosing The Best Way To Sell For You Your Company Your Customers

Rating:
Summary: Half-hearted update to the Quadrant Solution
Review: All of this is covered in "The Quadrant Solution" by the same authors. TQS was better in that it covered a technology example. Also, it has lot more detail on how to discern the quadrant the product/customer relationship is in (without some of the,IMHO,distracting "ancient-egyptian" spin on things). The best in TQS (also covered here) is a description of the four personality types that are effective in each of the quandrants. Recommend TQS as a second read, if you don't have time skip this just go to the TQS.

Rating:
Summary: Half-hearted update to the Quadrant Solution
Review: All of this is covered in "The Quadrant Solution" by the same authors. TQS was better in that it covered a technology example. Also, it has lot more detail on how to discern the quadrant the product/customer relationship is in (without some of the,IMHO,distracting "ancient-egyptian" spin on things). The best in TQS (also covered here) is a description of the four personality types that are effective in each of the quandrants. Recommend TQS as a second read, if you don't have time skip this just go to the TQS.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: Best marketing and sales book I have ever read until now! It's a nice story about selling innovation and market evolution.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting treatment of a boring topic
Review: Business self-help books are rarely lively. And books about sales are usually the most boring of all. And yet, "Selling the wheel" is fascinating. I enjoyed it even though I am not a sales professional, nor a businessman of any kind. What makes the book a quick read is that the practical sales information is couched in the form of a fictional narrative. This story, about the efforts of the ancient inventor of the wheel to sell his invention, is funny and engaging. But all the while, you are learning valuable information about the various types of salesman required to sell products at different stages in a product's technolgoical development: a "closer" for new products; a "wizard" for developed products that require a high-degree of technical expertise to select, install and service; a "builder" for standardized products that are purchased primarily by large, bureaucratic organizations; and a "captain" for products that are so common they have become commodiztized. If only all business self-help books were this interesting and well-conceived!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Story
Review: In the beginning, I had no idea what to expect from this audio book. I only casually glanced at the front cover and popped the tapes in the player. When I first heard the beginning of the story, I thought this was really corny! As I continued to listen, I began to become enthralled by the story. Its teachings are "ON TARGET" and funny. I liked it so much that I'm trying to find a hardcopy of the book and the audio-book version. I hope you will find as much enjoyment in this book as I have in hearing it.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful and entertaining
Review: This book is a companion to "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey Moore and also, surprisingly, "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell and "First, Break All the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham.

Having read a ton of books on technology sales, this one is easily the best. The story format works as pure entertainment - you turn each page to discover how it will all turn out - and deep insight borne from many years of research. At times I laughed out loud as I recognized sales people I had worked with in the past.

Individual sales people will discover themselves and realize that they are right for different sales situations. The faster they put themselves in companies whose phase matches their style, the more successful and happier they will be. This relates to "First, Break All the Rules" which also suggets that our core talents are more fixed than we realize.

As a VP of Sales, technology CEO or venture capitalist, you should read this book. You will be challenged to think about where your company is in its evolution. Then you can figure out if you have the right sales approach, team and culture to be successful. Beware of your own inclination! If you are a "Cassius" and your company is in need of a "Ben" you must be able to step out of your comfort zone and mental models. While "Crossing the Chasm" outlines the different kinds of customers a technology company encounters in its life, STW tells you how you should be during these different stages.

As an entrepreneur, this book will guide you. If you are a natural evangelist, find yourself a Max (what Gladwell calls a "maven") who will give you a product worth getting into the world. If you are a Max, find yourself a Cassius as soon as you can!

Your journey will be easeir and more fun once you discover and apply the wisdom contained in Selling the Wheel.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful and entertaining
Review: This book is a companion to "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey Moore and also, surprisingly, "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell and "First, Break All the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham.

Having read a ton of books on technology sales, this one is easily the best. The story format works as pure entertainment - you turn each page to discover how it will all turn out - and deep insight borne from many years of research. At times I laughed out loud as I recognized sales people I had worked with in the past.

Individual sales people will discover themselves and realize that they are right for different sales situations. The faster they put themselves in companies whose phase matches their style, the more successful and happier they will be. This relates to "First, Break All the Rules" which also suggets that our core talents are more fixed than we realize.

As a VP of Sales, technology CEO or venture capitalist, you should read this book. You will be challenged to think about where your company is in its evolution. Then you can figure out if you have the right sales approach, team and culture to be successful. Beware of your own inclination! If you are a "Cassius" and your company is in need of a "Ben" you must be able to step out of your comfort zone and mental models. While "Crossing the Chasm" outlines the different kinds of customers a technology company encounters in its life, STW tells you how you should be during these different stages.

As an entrepreneur, this book will guide you. If you are a natural evangelist, find yourself a Max (what Gladwell calls a "maven") who will give you a product worth getting into the world. If you are a Max, find yourself a Cassius as soon as you can!

Your journey will be easeir and more fun once you discover and apply the wisdom contained in Selling the Wheel.

Rating:
Summary: Meet the First Product Life Cycle and Its Top Sales Team!
Review: This book would make a five star read either as a book about sales or as humor. You can read it for both, and get twice the benefit.

The premise for this fable is based on a character named Max inventing the wheel in ancient Egypt, and then quickly adapting to the evolving market place with different product focus, marketing, and sales efforts.

With the help of his wife and the Oracle, Max finds different sales people to create demand for the wheel. Initially, no one can see a purpose for the wheel. Soon there is lots of competition, and Max has to adjust.

Based on research by Howard Stevens, a coauthor, there are four types of customers: gateswingers who want to be first with the new, progressive customers who want advanced products, relationship customers who want relatively acceptable products from a company they can trust, and world customers who want a standard product that is reliable at a good price.

Each type of customer needs a different type of salesperson: closers work best with gateswingers; wizards (technically competent people) do well with progressive customers; relationship salespeople do well with relationship customers; and the reliable captain and his crew (solving the customer's problem) are best for the world customer.

The key point is to choose customers for whom you can deliver the most value.

There is also lots of information about sales planning, the marketing and sales process, and how to measure your effectivenss. All of this information is solid and valuable, especially to those who are just learning about sales and marketing.

The beauty of using the wheel as the basis for the fable is to make the point about developing a product into a mass industry is easier to understand. Everyone knows about wheels. But the point is that every product was once a breakthrough and will at some point become a low-price, undifferentiated commodity. This allows you to understand how that life cycle affects what will make you most successful.

This book will help you overcome your stalled thinking that there is only one way to sell products. If you are in sales, you can apply this to getting a sales job that fits your preferred sales style. If you are a customer, it will help you know which kind of a sales person will best meet your needs. If you are running a business, it will help you plan your business and monitor your effectiveness. That's quite a lot of stalled thinking to overcome from one book.

The authors point out in a note that few sales forces are measured for effectiveness, and little hiring is done to match sales style to customer need. Be sure to focus on improving over that set of practices if you want to become more successful.

Enjoy faster and more profitable growth as your 2,000 percent solution from this wonderful tale!

Donald Mitchell

Coauthor of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise (available in September 2000) and The 2,000 Percent Solution

([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Best book for entrepreneurs hiring sales people
Review: What more can you ask for in a book?

1) It is an easy read.

2) It makes complete sense

3) The message is memorable

I read this book a few years ago, and it still resonates with me.

The makeup of a sales force evolves over time. For a new product, you need a person who can sell anything to anyone. A real rainmaker. As your business grows, you need someone who can engineer custom solutions. Grow more, and you'll need someone who can manage long-term relationships. Finally, in the most mature market, you'll need someone who can manage and motivate a sales force in a commodity-based system.

If you are an entrepreneur growing a business, this book is written for you. It will help you decide what stage your business is in, and what type of sales person/force you need to succeed in each stage.

Rating:
Summary: Jeff Cox hits another home run!
Review: Written in the style of a business novel, set in ancient times, when the Egyptian pyramids were being built, "Selling the Wheel" is a fantastic book, about the sales process. It covers the different types of sales people and personalities appropriate during various stages of the evolution of a product, which in this case is the wheel. The book is also about positioning a company, determining what markets to target, and fending off competition. You will be introduced to the Closer, the Wizard, the Relationship Builder, as well as the Captain and Crew, all of whom have a place in the growth and evolution process of a business and it's sales strategy.

Selling the Wheel" is both educational and entertaining, as are Jeff's other business novels. It is creatively written, humorous at times, and never dull. It satirizes many of the situations and logic we see in today's business environment including the world of the net economy. Even in ancient times, star salespeople such as Ben (below) were way ahead of the times:

"But, Ben," said Max, "if we sell them wheels at twenty-four shekels, we're gonna lose money on every wheel we sell!"

"I know, but we'll make it up on volume!" Said Ben, uttering a remark that would echo forward through the centuries.

Whether you work in sales or not, this book is easy to identify with. It touches on elements presented in Jeff's other books (Zapp, Heroz, and The Goal), including motivation, conflict, management, and day to day decision making within a company. If you have an interest in sales, or even in business, pick up this book, set aside a few hours, and dive in!