I.T. Sales Boot Camp: Sure-Fire Techniques for Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Companies [Paperback]

Brian Giese (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

6-CD's to listen to in your car or on your computer! This new program shows you stunning animation as Brian Giese, the author of I.T. Sales Boot Camp, narrates the workshop. Each chapter lasts about 20 to 40 minutes, and is usually followed by an online quiz or exercise before going on to the next module.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The concept of selling in an I.T. arena that were taught in the book are great... --DS Nichols, May 23, 2003

This book does a great job of providing a strategic step-by-step plan from A-Z. --Dave Sunders, Oxford, England

It's very accurate for today's technology challanges and I found it easy to read as well! --David Kotter, Loveland CO

About the Author

Inspired. Inspirational. Those two words sum up Brian Giese. Brian’s spent over 24 years working in every aspect of the sales and marketing industry — a career about which he is passionate. Serving as an executive with Novell, Cisco and Agilent Technologies Brian is a seasoned veteran known for vision, accelerating profitability, and increasing client satisfaction. He fosters a culture of excellence within the walls of his clients and is expert on the how-to’s of building executive relationships. And as a result, his clients read like a who’s who in the technology marketing world. Brian has served as a marketing and sales performance consultant for IBM, Sun, Oracle, NEC, Dunn and Bradstreet, Salesforce.com, HP, Microsoft, and CA among others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158062538X
• ISBN-13: 978-1580625388
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,830,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Inspired. Inspirational. Those two words sum up Brian Giese. Brians spent over 24 years working in every aspect of the sales and marketing industry, a career about which he is passionate.

Inspired. Inspirational. Those two words sum up Brian Giese. Brians spent over 24 years working in every aspect of the sales and marketing industry a career about which he is passionate.

Brian is a seasoned veteran known for vision, accelerating profitability, and increasing client satisfaction. He fosters a culture of excellence within the walls of his clients and is expert on the how-tos of building executive relationships. And as a result, his clients read like a whos-who in the technology marketing world. Brian has served as a marketing and sales performance consultant for IBM, Sun, Oracle, NEC, Dunn and Bradstreet, Salesforce.com, HP, Microsoft, and CA among others.

Brian is the author of the I.T. Sales Boot Camp: Surefire Techniques to Sell Technology Products to Mainstream Customers. Adams Media Corporation; ISBN: 158062538X; (May 2002) His book is an international bestseller on the Amazon.com hot 100 list and these methodologies are used by technology sales and marketing organizations around the world. Brian serves on the Board of Fiberoptics.com and on the Board of Advisors for the Direct Focus and Marketing Focus conferences. He is an Honorary Member of the United Sales Professionals Association and the Direct Marketing Association, as well as a Noted Member of the National Speakers Association. And, early in his career; the Society of Software Sellers honored Brian as the recipient of their Million-Dollar Award for peak performance. Brian loves to write and continues to author numerous white papers and articles on direct sales and marketing innovation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars All Reviews Written by Author and Friends, August 15, 2002

By 

"joeobvious" (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I.T. Sales Boot Camp: Sure-Fire Techniques for Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Companies (Paperback)

Help! Can we get a real review here? 5 Stars by everyone and each happens to be in a major city geographically spread out across the country. New York, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, and Seattle. Hmm, where are the ones from San Diego and Miami? No specific details in any review, and each way too "flowery" and "salesy".

Here is one from Binghamton, NY.

"I just don't believe it. Too good to be true. I read every book and every book review as part of my job. It's my job to be cynical. I may actually review the book and provide real examples of meat or sewage rather than try to sell the book or Giese's seminar to you. Overall, the other reviews are good sales fluff absent of any benefits tied to direct examples."

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I.T. Sales Boot Camp:, May 23, 2003

By 

DS Nichols (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I.T. Sales Boot Camp: Sure-Fire Techniques for Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Companies (Paperback)

Recently I had the opportunity to interview for a sale position with a much respected software company. A few days before the interview I had just finished reading I.T. Sales Boot Camp. The concept and fundamental ideals of selling in an I.T. arena that were taught and express in the book enabled me to land the job. I believe that the knowledge that I gain from I.T.Sales Boot Camp made the different in my interview.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A practical framework for large account sales, August 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: I.T. Sales Boot Camp: Sure-Fire Techniques for Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Companies (Paperback)

Brian Giese provides a refreshing and practical framework to approach selling from both a strategic and tactical point of view. I was pleasantly surprised at this books content given its name I.T. Sales Boot Camp but, like a general, a salesperson must first master the art of planning his/her forces before being able to approach a customer or prospect effectively.

Giese rightly recommends that his audience thinks about his ten key elements to consider in a complex selling. The ten elements are the following: mapping the battleground, assembling a pursuit team, preparing for the attach, getting to the CXO, creating value, questioning, proposal writing, competition, account management, and channel sales. Although the reader may first consider this process a chore, they will derive a lot of value from it by internalizing the author's framework.

Giese correctly reminds his audience that the salesperson needs to have a broad understanding of his/her competition. Competition includes not only direct competitive offerings, but also customer/prospect's options such as doing nothing, in sourcing, or resources reallocation for other purpose. Furthermore, Giese recommends that his audience adopt a strategy of focusing first on customer/prospect's "wants" and not on a narrowly defined competition.

With a little bit of practice, the framework described above may become second nature and allow the audience to eventually use it in a multitude of settings. For example, applying for a job is often similar to complex selling. The job seeker needs to make a mutually beneficial value proposition not only to the hiring manager(s), but also to the assistant (s), the receptionist and any other relevant persons who can make a difference in hiring him/her or not. Similarly, a software salesperson could use the above-mentioned framework to organize and deploy sales resources within his/her organization.