Managing Major Sales

Rating:
Summary: Are you running sales for a company that sell systems?
Review: If the answer to this question is yes, than this book will be of great use to you. Being responsible for a sales team of a company that sells systems this book finally made me realize the difference between sales and sales.

Many of the other books on the subject describe strategies how to open or how to close opportunities. In my world a customer kicks me out of the door if I would try to close him in the 1st or 2nd call.

Mr Rackham described in a very understandable language what it takes to run a sales team involved in selling systems with a high ASP and a >6 month sales cycle. After reading the book I understood why some things worked and others didn't. As a result I was able to put a strategy together on how to increase the sales and how/who to hire to extend my team.

I feel like I was given the keys to the secret kingdom of strategic sales.

Although still in implementation I feel great to have now at least an idea how to run my business where previously I was working from quarter-end to quarter-end trying to make the number.

One improvement would be for the authors to use a little more humor. I am a firm believer that a little fun helps to keep you going from page to page....

Rating:
Summary: Sales managers should read this book!
Review: If you are managing a major sales team, this is the book you should buy. It tells you how to coach and motivate your people.

Rating:
Summary: Selling Smarter Is Key to Managing Major Sales
Review: Neil Rackham and Richard Ruff systematically explore sales productivity and its two components: sales efficiency and sales effectiveness. Rackham and Ruff first demonstrate with panache that selling smarter and not selling harder is key to optimizing the effectiveness of salespeople in large sales once they have established contact with their customers or prospects. Activity management to boost complex sales calls often has serious side effects that can eventually generate a negative return on the investment made for that purpose. Furthermore, Rackham and Ruff convincingly show which sales roles successful sales managers can adopt without undermining the stature and credibility of salespersons towards their customers or prospects. Rackham and Ruff then explore three types of analyses that sales managers can use to identify the skills and ability that their top performers display in their relationship with their customers or prospects. Once sales managers have clearly identified the skills and ability of these top performers, they can develop an action plan for coaching the rest of their sales force. Rackham and Ruff methodically examine strategy coaching, skills coaching, and their respective challenges. In addition, Rackham and Ruff examine the key motivating role that successful sales managers can have in boosting the sales productivity of their respective team. More specifically, Rackham and Ruff explore the effectiveness of setting targets, financial and non-financial incentives, and other motivational tools in boosting sales performance. Finally, Rackham and Ruff wrap up their analysis of managing major sales with a case study built on their research to put the concepts mentioned above into practice for the benefit of their audience. Both sales managers and salespersons can benefit from reading this in-depth account of how to best manage complex sales for their mutual benefit.

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Summary: What SPIN did for Sales, this does for Sales Managers!
Review: Perhaps the best book I've read on managing sales people. Unlike many sales management books that focus on the overall job - recruiting, selection, training, coaching, etc. - this book concentrates on the sales process and more specifically, the sales manager's role in moving sales people through that process.

Rackham and his organization compiled the largest known body of research into sales success. That research resulted in SPIN Selling, one of the most respected (and at the time controversial) books on sales skills. This book looks at the management side of the same coin. Experienced sales managers will find answers to questions that have bothered them for years. Inexperienced sales managers will eliminate the need to ever ask those questions. Early in the book, Rackham points out that the job of sales manager is the pivotal job in most companies. By the end of the book you believe it!