Amazon.com Review
Unlike practically every other segment of the modern business world, the corporate-sales department has changed very little from the rigid organizational framework it first attained back in the gray-flannel '60s. But even that bastion of traditional business structure is starting to evolve, as customers at all levels begin to reconsider their expectations, purchasing patterns, and criteria for establishing and maintaining relationships with sales professionals.
Rethinking the Sales Force, by Neil Rackham and John De Vincentis, is an innovative attempt to give today's salespeople a push in the right direction before the inevitable sea change now developing totally overtakes them and undermines their potential for future success. Rackham, author of
Spin Selling, and De Vincentis, an independent sales and marketing consultant, use leading real-world examples such as Microsoft, IBM, and Charles Schwab to show how the commercial viability of assorted products and services can be dramatically improved by determining the real needs of three different types of buyers--whom they call "intrinsic value customers," "extrinsic value customers," and "strategic value customers"--and then developing the appropriate sales strategies to meet them.
--Howard Rothman
From the Back Cover
Sales forces that simply communicate value to customers are doomed to failsales must begin to create customer value to survive. In today's markets, success can no longer be obtained by salespeople communicating the value of a product or serviceit rests on the critical ability to create value for customers. Enter Rethinking the Sales Force. In this book, best-selling author Neil Rackham and international sales and marketing consultant John De Vincentis have created a breakthrough guide for sales and marketing executives.
Rackham and De Vincentis help sales forces rethink and retool their selling strategies by introducing eye-opening insight for winning in the new marketplace.
"Of the many books published each year on marketing and selling, only a tiny fraction have anything new to say. This is one of them. It will radically change your thinking about your sales force, and even whether you need one."Philip Kotler, Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University
"A compelling premise. Without question, this is an important and useful book for companies serious about improving sales performance."Chuck Farr, Former Vice-Chairman, American Express.
"Sales forces of tomorrow will need to be fundamentally different from today. This book provides an interesting and valuable window into the future of selling and what the next generation sales force will have to do to prosper."Michael Graff, President, Business Aircraft, Bombardier Aerospace
