Short Cycle Selling: Beating Your Competitors in the Sales Race

by Kasper, Jim

• ISBN13: 9780071388733
• ISBN10: 0071388737
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-03-06
• Publisher: McGraw Hill

Summary

The first book on short cycle selling­­the fast-track route to a higher closing ratioSales professionals today waste untold hours worrying about identifying, tracking, and timing their sales cycles. In Short Cycle Selling, author Jim Kasper trains his sights on the only important concept and goal in sales cycles­­shortening them. He walks professionals point-by-point through the series of steps that constitute the sales cycle­­from identifying prospects to negotiating and closing­­and at each step shows how to streamline the process.Short Cycle Selling is the first book to deal specifically with proven techniques that condense the time from prospecting to closing, while taking advantage of today's most innovative concepts in selling skills and E-technology. Packed with case studies and actual examples of short cycle selling success­­and techniques that were field tested on clients from Amoco and Pentax to Wells Fargo Bank­­this hands-on book reveals how to:Land more accountsAchieve greater sales volumesGenerate greater sales income and satisfaction

Author Biography

Jim Kasper is president and founder of the sales development company Interactive Resource Group. He has field tested and taught short cycle selling to corporate clients from Amoco and Pentax to Rubbermaid, Chase Manhattan Mortgage, and Wells Fargo. An assistant professor of marketing at Regis University, Kasper writes the international newsletter SalesCall along with several private-label newsletters.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Why Short Cycle Sellers Win the Sales Race	xi
Identify Your Sales Cycle: Champion Racers Know Their Racecourses	1	(14)
Compression Concept: Sales Cycles Have Stages	2	(6)
Compression Concept: Not All Sales Cycles Are Alike	8	(7)
Size Up Your Competition: Identifying When and Where to Make Your Move	15	(12)
Internal Competition	16	(2)
External Competition	18	(1)
Compression Concept: Competitive Analysis Based on Your Customers' Perceptions	19	(8)
Target Selling: Plan Your Sales Race	27	(13)
Compression Concept: The Market Segmentation and Target Process	30	(3)
Compression Concept: Do Your Homework Before You Call	33	(1)
Compression Concept: Develop a Unique Selling Proposition	34	(6)
Get New Business More Quickly: Race on the Fastest Course	40	(15)
Compression Concept: Customer Internal Opportunity Analysis	43	(2)
Compression Concept: Account Management Plan	45	(2)
Compression Concept: Your Customers Want to Help You	47	(3)
Compression Concept: The Five Steps to Take to Train Your Customers to Shorten Your Sales Cycle	50	(5)
A.R.E.B.A.! The Quickest Trade to the First Appointment	55	(10)
The A.R.E.B.A. Model	56	(6)
E-Technology Will Save You Thousands in Literature Costs and Sales Cycle Time	62	(3)
Compression Objectives: A Big Key to Winning the Sales Race	65	(13)
Focusing on the Wrong Sales Objective	66	(1)
Conceding Control of the Sales Cycle to the Customer	67	(1)
Compression Concept: The Compression Objective	67	(3)
Compression Concept: The Customer Must Take Some Form of Action	70	(5)
E-Selling and Compression Objectives	75	(3)
Let the Customer Tell You How to Win: It's Her Job!	78	(21)
Compression Concept: The Race Winning Discovery Strategy	80	(1)
Preparation Phase: Using Internet Technology	81	(2)
Scenario Planning	83	(4)
The Sales Interview	87	(1)
Compression Concept: The Five Questions That Cut to the Essence of the Sales Process	88	(4)
Compression Concept: Discover the Motivation Behind Your Customers' Questions	92	(2)
Compression Concept: Asking for Your Compression Objective	94	(5)
Familiarity Breeds Sales Race Winners	99	(21)
Compression Concept: Understanding Your Customer's Perception Is a Key to Affecting It	102	(1)
Compression Concept: The Two Basic Buyer Personality Types-Bottom Liner and Top Liner	103	(10)
Compression Concept: Sell to the Behavioral Style That You Identify	113	(7)
Shorten Your Sales Cycle: Using Strong Sales Presentations, Demonstrations, and Proposals	120	(17)
Compression Concept: Customer Involvement Cuts Time from Your Sales Cycle	121	(4)
Phase I: Pre-presentation Involvement	125	(2)
Phase II: Presentation Engagement	127	(4)
Phase III: Post-presentation Connection	131	(2)
The Virtual Sales Presentation	133	(4)
Condense Your Sales Negotiations: Jockeying for a better Position Near the Finish Line	137	(19)
Compression Concept: Guiding Your Customer to the Negotiating Stage	138	(2)
Compression Concept: Keeping Your Prospect Engaged in Negotiations	140	(5)
Compression Concept: The Two Facets of the Negotiating Process That Encourage Short Cycle Selling--Time and Information	145	(2)
Compression Concept: Get Something Every Time That You Give Something	147	(2)
Compression Concept: Take Control of Your Sales Cycle by Negotiating Your Issues One by One, but Bring Multiple Issues to the Table	149	(1)
Compression Concept: Speak to the Behavioral Style of Your Customer during Sales Negotiations	150	(6)
Eliminate Road Course Obstacles: Control the Staller or Objector	156	(18)
Compression Concept: An Objector Has Questions--Just Questions	157	(3)
Compression Concept: A Staller Will Try to End Your Sales Cycle	160	(2)
Compression Concept: Six Steps to Isolate the Objection and Move On	162	(4)
Compression Concept: Four Steps to Help You Get Commitment from a Staller	166	(8)
S.A.F.E. Closing: It Means You Win	174	(18)
Compression Concept: Closing Is...	177	(3)
Compression Concept: Sales Race Winners Know When to Ask	180	(2)
Compression Concept: It's S.A.F E. to Ask	182	(3)
Compression Concept: The ``No'' Game Plan Restores Your Sales Cycle	185	(2)
Compression Concept: Postclosing Analysis Compresses the Next Sale	187	(5)
Fastest Time Wins: Control Your Time and Shorten Your Sales Cycle	192	(22)
Compression Concept: Overcoming the Four Skill Deficiencies That Prolong Your Sales Cycle	195	(1)
Your Sales Cycle Is Your Sales Plan	196	(3)
Getting Organized Means a Shorter Sales Cycle	199	(4)
Short Cycle Sellers Find Ways to Delegate	203	(4)
Call Reluctance Definitely Lengthens Your Sales Cycle	207	(7)
Sales Technology and Automation = Shortened Sales Cycles	214	(17)
Compression Concept: What a Good CRM System Can Do to Shorten Your Sales Cycle	219	(6)
Compression Concept: Other Sales Technologies That Will Help You Shorten Your Sales Cycle	225	(6)
Marketing Will Help You Finish First	231	(14)
Compression Concept: Affect Your Customers' Perceptions by Positioning, Not by Product Features	232	(4)
Compression Concept: Other Marketing Activities Should Be Aimed at Helping You Shorten Your Sales Cycle	236	(5)
Compression Concept: Using Marketing to Attack the Market from All Angles	241	(4)
Hone Your Mental Game: Put Your Racing Face On	245	(14)
Compression Concept: Know Your Selling Self	247	(2)
Compression Concept: Focus on Short Cycle Selling Success	249	(10)
The 25 Sales Race Rules That Ensure Your Short Cycle Selling Success	259	(2)
The Resource Center	261	(4)
Index	265