Baseline Selling - How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know About the Game of Baseball, will dramatically change the way we approach the sales process, replacing the gratuitous complexity advocated by today's sales "experts" with an elegant and very effective simplicity. Studies have shown that the selling techniques of the last two decades have had very little impact on most of the sales population-less than 75 percent of all salespeople, to be exact. Why? Because of the complexity, learning curve and difficulty in applying the concepts in these systems. In response to the urgent need for a flexible, innovative process that will enable people to grasp the essential skills necessary to close a sale in any situation, Baseline Selling reemphasizes the fundamentals of selling in a fresh, memorable way that modern sales professionals can relate to and utilize, and above all, one that complements and enriches advanced sales methodologies. Salespeople who read this book and put its wisdom to work will succeed at acquiring more opportunities as they learn to get appointments more easily. They will excel at creating opportunities with prospects who are "not interested". They'll sell at higher margins by using the "Rule of Ratios". Their closing percentages will improve dramatically as they implement the simple Inoffensive Close". Salespeople selling commodities, struggling to differentiate themselves, will love "Commodity Busters" and every salesperson will be able to shorten their sell cycle by "Taking a Lead". Quite simply, Baseline Selling introduces a way for salespeople to visualize and touch all the "sales bases" without over-complicating the process.
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...definitely a home run for Kurlan...very informative volume...enjoyable experience...I give Kurlan an A+ (Must read). -- Reader Views, January 22, 2006
4 STARS...the book is a home run...If you love baseball and you sell...this book is a must. -- ChangingMinds.org
Best ideas...most effective techniques...straight-forward methodology that sales people can easily recall when under fire. -- Bookwire
Kurlan’s most perceptive and useful advice helps salespeople identify and overcome self-imposed obstacles to success. -- Bookwire
Novice and veteran salespeople alike will find much in Baseline Selling to improve their game. -- Bookwire
very strongly recommended...innovative idea...effective sales and business techniques...easy-to-follow reference for the sales process. -- Midwest Book Reviews--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From the Author
Using baseball as its metaphor, Baseline Selling introduces a powerful but simple new way to approach sales that professional salespeople will find memorable, enjoyable and easy to implement.
Salespeople who read this book and put its wisdom to work will succeed at acquiring more opportunities as they learn to reach first base more easily. They will excel at creating opportunities with prospects who are not interested by hitting for The Cycle. They will sell at higher margins by using the Rule of Ratios. Their closing percentages will improve dramatically as they implement the simple Inoffensive Close. Salespeople selling commodities, struggling to differentiate themselves, will love Commodity Busters and every salesperson will be able to shorten their sell cycle by Taking a Lead. Quite simply, Baseline Selling introduces a way for salespeople to visualize and touch all the bases without over-complicating the process.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best selling author, radio show host, successful entrepreneur and sales development industry pioneer.
He is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales candidate assessments and sales force evaluations, and winner of the Top Sales Assessment Tool for 2011. He is also the CEO of Kurlan & Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm specializing in sales force development and a three-time Inc. 5000 winner. He has 3 decades of experience in all facets of sales development, including consulting, training, coaching, selection, strategy, systems, processes, and metrics.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference, EcSell Institute's Sales Coaching Summits, and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit, and dozens of additional industry Conferences.
He has been featured on radio, television and print, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the host of the weekly business radio show, Meet the Sales Experts. He is the author of Mindless Selling and the best-seller, Baseline Selling - How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog, winner of Top Sales & Marketing Blog for 2011. He is a contributing author to several books including, The Death of 20th Century Selling, 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2, and Stepping Stones, with coauthors Deepak Chopra and Jack Canfield.
Before I read this book, my first impression was that it would be about the basics of B2B selling (strike one for me). And on top of it, I'm not a big baseball fan (strike two for me).
But after reading Dave Kurlan's book, I can say it provides a useful and practical approach that many b2b sales people will find helpful (hit).
I like that Kurlan doesn't try to re-invent what already works. He uniquely pulls together a well thought out process based on his best practices along with those of other experts too. Also, his passion about baseball makes his analogies come to life.
My background is working with highly complex sales and selling professional services to executives in mid-size to F1000 companies. If that describes you, then you may not find what you're looking for here.
I definately see how Kurlan's approach can be easily replicated, taught and used as a coaching guide. If your a sales person, business owner or sales leader looking for a solid sales book, this one is definitely worth a read.
Baseline Selling is an improved explanation of how to do consultative selling. In this approach to selling, the salesperson's job is to locate prospects who have perceived and unperceived needs that the salesperson can convincingly demonstrate that the salesperson's company can serve better than competitors.
Consultative selling is very effective because it's based on delivering tangible benefits either from the offerings or from a smoother relationship between customer and supplier.
So why doesn't everyone use this approach? It's hard to learn and even harder to master.
Enter Dave Kurlan with his baseball metaphor which makes a world of difference in both areas.
Every step the salesperson should be taking is phrased in terms of making it from home plate around the bases to score. It's not surprising that Massachusetts-based Kurlan would focus on that part. The Red Sox are usually better at scoring than defense.
Mr. Kurlan reports that people trained in this method remember what they are supposed to do about twice as often as with traditional training in consultative selling. I believe that.
Most sales books try to go with acronyms . . . and those just don't stick with me. Even when I can remember the sales acronym, I can't remember what it stands for . . . and what I'm supposed to be doing. But I know about baseball. So do most Americans. But don't expect this approach to revolutionize your sales in India. They play cricket and football (soccer) there.
Here's an overview: Think of the sales pipeline as the baseball diamond. When you are at home plate, you're nowhere. If you can get someone to give you an appointment or you receive an RFP (request for proposal), you're on first base. You have enough rapport going to have a suspect. To reach second, you have to find if your suspect has urgency, a budding relationship with you and you are able to connect with the prospect better than the competition. To get to third, you finish qualifying the prospect and the prospect finishes qualifying you as you present a solution that is appropriate for the prospect's needs and the budget. You score when you get the first order. If you get a big piece of business, that's a home run. If you get all the business, that's a grand slam. Got it?
Almost all those other wonderful baseball terms come into play. A pick-off attempt is when the competition tries to knock you out of the running and fails. You are picked off when such an attempt succeeds.
Mr. Kurlan realizes that most salespeople are their own worst enemies. He has an interesting Appendix A that identifies the frequency by which salespeople exhibit various unhelpful attitudes and behaviors (such as how long it takes a salesperson to recover from being rejected by a prospect). From this work, Mr. Kurlan reports that 62 percent of salespeople are ineffective. But there's hope. Good salespeople are trained, not born.
Baseline Selling: How To Become A Sales Superstar By Using What You Already Know About The Game Of Baseball by Dave Kurlan (Founder of the Objective Management Group and internationally known for his ground breaking work in evaluating sales people) is an informed and informative introduction to effective sales and business techniques. Creating for the reader an easy-to-follow reference for the sales process, Baseline Selling introduces the reader to an innovative idea that will enable a sale to be made regardless of situational barriers through the utilization of modern sales methodologies. Baseline Selling is very strongly recommended to all readers interested in a more persuasive and effective tactical approach to selling their businesses product or service in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace.
