Making the Technical Sale: Real World Training for the Successful Sales Consultant [Paperback]

Rick Greenwald (Author), James Milbery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0966288998 | ISBN-13: 978-0966288995 | Edition: 1

"Making the Technical Sale" explains the overall technical sales cycle, including the technology and adaptation cycle and ways to understand the progress of a sale. This accurate and thorough manual was written from the technical sales professional's point of view and anticipates the kind of problems unique to the technical sales field. "Making the Technical Sale" discusses why technical sales is different from general sales; details the full range of skills needed by technical sales professionals; illuminates the typical tasks a technical sales professional handles; and explores the role this person plays on the sales team. The book also addresses the need for honesty and ethical behavior in sales.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James F. Milberry of Easton, Pennsylvania, is principal of Milberry Consulting Group. Before founding his own business, he spent several years as a technical sales force manager, most recently with software providers Revere Inc. and Ingres Corp. He has personally trained more than 700 sales consultants in his career. He is co-author with Richard E. Greenwald of "The Oracle WebDB Bible."

Richard E. Greenwald of Evanston, Illinois, is a competitive analyst with Oracle Corporation and principal of Strategic Computing Services. He has been a senior technical sales professional with management and training responsibilities as well as territory development. He has published extensively in professinoal journals, and has written "Oracle Power Objects Developers," "Mastering Oracle Power Objects","Using Oracle" and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 385 pages
• Publisher: Muska & Lipman Publishing; 1 edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966288998
• ISBN-13: 978-0966288995
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 3.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #679,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SE's will find this invaluable, March 28, 2001

By 

David S. Hawkins (Costa Mesa, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Making the Technical Sale: Real World Training for the Successful Sales Consultant (Paperback)

I have only read the first four chapters (book in hand as of tonight...) and skipped around to get an over all impression of this text. All in all, I am impressed. While this is not a sales training manual, it focuses on the role of a Sales Consultant as the book calls the position. This is something that is fresh in the sales guide realm. I have personally attended over 1000 hours of sales training, been a sales trainer and sales manager, I chose to move into the role of Sales Consultant because I like playing with all the toys, being a technical authority, and because I like creating vision around products I believe in. Having had a sales background and a career change about 7 years ago into technical fields, I have a passion for selling and technology. I finally have found a book that seems to accurately describe what I do and help me become more effective in my current career. While I may not use every paradigm in the book, I have not found anything in here that I won't use, unlike many other Sales products on the market today. Read this book, if you are a sales person who relies on a pre-sales person, buy it for him or her, you will be the one reaping the rewards. If you are a manager of Pre-Sales, this might be the best tool you have to train new staff. HR folks might be able to use this to define the roles they are trying to fill. Perhaps you might not use everything, but without doubt, if it applies to what you do, you will come away with much more than you might think.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need to know how to be an SE???, June 7, 2004

By 

Frank Cantarelli (Springfield, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making the Technical Sale: Real World Training for the Successful Sales Consultant (Paperback)

I came to the "Sales Consultant" position from technical engineering background with no sales experience and have found this book very informative and helpful in my new carrier. If you are involved in pre-sales engineering, this book should accompany you as a resource wherever you go. This material is so valuable for sales consultants I quite honestly believe anyone who is in or thinking about getting into sales consulting should read this book!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for SE's, April 16, 2001

By 

Kevin R Hoyt (Parker, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making the Technical Sale: Real World Training for the Successful Sales Consultant (Paperback)

I came to the "Sales Consultant" position from consulting, and before that I was a developer. Regardless of the position, if you are involved in pre-sales, this book should accompany you as a resource wherever you go. What has taken me countless trial and error was covered in the first few pages. My only complaint is that I'd like to have seen a summary of the material at te end of each chapter - there's just too much good info in each page to remember it all. This material is so valuable for sales consultants that I'm quite honestly at a loss for words to describe it. So, you're next click should be on the purchase button.