Do YOU Mean Business? Technical/Non-Technical Collaboration, Business Development and YOU [Paperback]

Babette N. Ten Haken (Author), Jill Konrath (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2012

THE ENGINEERING-SALES DISCONNECT IS OVER .... OR AT LEAST IT CAN BE

Today's global marketplace brings success to individuals and companies able to collaborate and operate in cross-functional teams. Yet many engineers and business development professionals operate in silos, missing opportunities for personal advancement and revenue generation. The primary barrier: they don't speak the same language.
     In Do YOU Mean Business? Technical/Non-Technical Collaboration, Business Development and YOU, Babette Ten Haken, consultant and founder of the renowned blog, Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, shows you how to:
     * Liberate yourself from the status quo of discipline-driven mindsets
     * Develop the ability to simultaneously translate technical as well as non-technical information to
       colleagues and customers
     * Understand how your functional role - not your job description - allows you to positively impact business development, even if you are a technical expert

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Engineers who master the art of sales and marketing are a highly valuable asset." - Nancy Nardin, Founder, Smart Selling Tools™

"Shows you what actually works in today's business environment." - Jill Konrath,  Selling to BIG Companies and SNAP Selling

About the Author

Babette N. Ten Haken holds degrees from Washington University, St. Louis MO and University of London, UK. Her successful career in scientific, marketing research, and sales roles led to the creation of her firm, Sales Aerobics for Engineers, LLC, where she works with technically-focused companies, enhancing team performance for revenue generation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Spinner Press, LLC (April 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984898654
• ISBN-13: 978-0984898657
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Babette N. Ten Haken, Founder & President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers, believes the fulcrum for leveraging innovative business development is collaboration between technical and non-technical professionals. She teaches technical professionals who sell, and really anyone who sells, how to have business-building, revenue-generating, conversations that your customers never knew they wanted to have with you! She consults, trains, and blogs for manufacturers, technical start-ups, and entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level. Her hot new book, Do YOU Mean Business?, is a crash course on what it takes in today's crazy-busy business environment, to get everyone seated around the table on the same page. Grab your copy now.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Written for the Accidental Salespeson June 12, 2012

By Sam

Format:Paperback

For many people with technical backgrounds, sales and selling are synonymous with distasteful and disdain. Yet when the product inventor becomes the boss (of their own company with one employee or a large company of thousands), he or she is suddenly thrust into a world that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Yet it is a world that is obviously necessary for personal and business success.

Like most of us when we're put in stressful situations, we fall back on what makes us most comfortable. And for technical people, that can often be using jargon, buzz words, and language that makes sense with like-minded (and typically more intelligent) individuals. However unfortunately, in the sales world, nothing can turn off a potential customer faster than using words and concepts that the buyer doesn't understand.

Babette Ten Haken provides technical people, and really anyone who sells for a living, a guidebook on how to explain a product, its benefits, and its value in ways that are easily understood and comfortable for both the buyer to hear, and the salesperson to sell. In reality, almost everyone in business is a salesperson whether the title "sales" is on a business card or not. From the receptionist to the product manager to the CEO, almost everyone in a company comes in contact with a prospect sometime during the day. What Babette shows is a simple methodology that anyone can follow to make selling comfortable, and even fun.

Another important point that Babette's book covers in detail is that selling does not necessarily mean only to the outside world. Every day, the technical person needs to sell his or her concepts internally within a company. Thus Babette's strategies and tactics will help the technically-minded/mathematically-oriented person overcome fears and she provides a roadmap for sales success.

What I also enjoy is Babette's style and manner. She writes for the technical person in a non-technical, easy-to-understand and easy-to-read manner. Read "Do YOU Mean Business" and YOU TOO will get results.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Business Book, Not just Another Sales Book April 26, 2012

By Robert Terson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Do YOU Mean Business?: Technical/Non-Technical Collaboration, Business Development and YOU" isn't just another sales book. It's a business book, for everyone in your organization. Babette sees business development as part of everyone's job description. She believes everyone needs to understand how their job function affects the colleagues they hand their work over to. It's like a 4x100 meter relay race--the individual running one leg of the race has to smoothly hand that baton off to the next runner, who'd better be in position with her hand extended to receive that baton and sprint off.

"Do YOU Mean Business?" is about everyone in the organization getting to the finish line together. It's about technical folks learning how to talk business, and sales and marketing folks learning how to talk about the technical aspects of the project. It's about finding out what the common denominators are, so that you can leave the techie lingo or sales spiel at home.

At a time when we're all pondering how to develop business, Babette Ten Haken has given us a book that pulls it all together. Business development is dynamic and collaborative; no more "us versus them."

I know you'll enjoy reading her book and putting her suggestions into action. More importantly, this book will make you money. Buy your copy now!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Business, Engineering, Sales [check, check,check] August 4, 2012

By Glen

Format:Paperback

This is a fantastic book for beginners and veterans of sales and engineering. A real eye opener and I will refer back to this book continuously.