Customer Reviews

Selling Against the Goal: How Corporate Sales Professionals Generate the Leads They Need

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book cannot be praised enough. There are thousands of books and systems for sales. Almost all of them ignore or minimize the realities of how hard it is today to get into accounts to even begin `selling.' Most sales books have little useful information on prospecting or lead generation. No matter how good you are if you can't get in the door you can't be a solution, strategic, customer-focused, closed sub (Sandler), or ad nauseam `flavor of the day' seller. This book, coupled with "Selling to Big Companies" has replaced 90% of my selling library and is an indispensable read.

"Job Title: Sales Rep. Job Responsibilities: Generate Leads. Close Sales. How to Get the Job Done: It's up to you, my friend." This is how the book starts and isn't it TRUE. No-one tells us how and the real help we get as out-in-the-field salespeople is minimal. Few companies are good at generating leads! Most books written on the topic are for management (Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, for example, is a great book, but not for the grunt on-the-ground like me). Other books just rehash cold calling techniques that simply don't work in this overworked, too busy, voice mail and email business environment.

Most importantly this book is a practical workbook: not simply a theoretical system of selling that does you no good in the day to day selling world where we all live. This book tells you how to make a territory plan and then develop leads and prospects within your territory. The book works from your goals, even targets the amount of prospects based on your averages and financial plans. The book have very explicit instructions that show you how to work an area, develop business, and close sales. This book goes far beyond the worn out and doesn't work advice of `just cold call more.' This book may have saved my career. It will definitely improve anyone's sales efforts if they apply it.

I just finished reading Kendra's book "Selling Against the Goal" and I liked many things, but at the top of the list was her narrative. She included great charts and mock situations that helped put everything in perspective. Kendra helped me realize that I could do everything in the book if I took all of my skills and structured them to fit the flow she outlined. As I was reading I kept saying to myself "oh.. that's cool, I can do that". While I know all aspects of direct marketing, my most passionate contribution is in helping clients develop marketing strategies that are unbiased and focused on their bottom line. Kendra showed me how to apply my marketing expertise to sales and attract those clients.

It seems everyone just wants to state their opinion today but offer no sound advice on how to get from point A to Point Z but Kendra's book was different. Honestly... I felt welcomed into Kendra's book and I felt that she understood what it was I wanted to learn. I enjoyed the book very much and would highly recommend it to anyone.
Deb Kennedy, President
Channel Neutral Marketing

Take this book and Brian Carroll's and you pretty well have the complete package of lead generation activities. Lee goes into detail and depth to give the sales professional a high value resource. If you just started with medium to large sized firm in sales, this book is a road map to high performance sales. It does assume two things, that you know how to sell and marketing is doing its job. These two assumptions apply so rarely to the small to medium business.

Another place where sales will run into an issue is that sales people are not good at creating good content and copy for lead gen programs. Its not in their genes. Of course they think they do. (I certainly did until it was proven over and over to me) Most of Lee's copy examples are quite good, but some illustrate that fatal flaw about salesmen, they can forget that to get customer interest you do not start out talking about your Co. or yourself.

So although this is a must buy book for sales people, it does not address what you need in regards to great copy. You should combine your work laid out in this book with that of a marketing peer who understands compelling copy. Of course as a good sales person , you could not at first tell the difference `tween compelling copy and just copy. But, you will think you do.

Are you tired of the same old diet of "collaborative/discovery/listening/networking/commitment objective/lead generation/fulfillment" sales books? Then wrap your brain around "Selling Against the Goal". Absolutely the best, single source, text I have read on how to understand your sales process and manage your sales territory! This book is 307 pages of the most effective content on things sales professionals need to do every day in order to succeed at selling. If I ever meet Kendra I will bow and kiss her feet.

Kendra goes beyond the typical "teach me how to sell books". Her approach is by far the most logical and creative. My staff now uses many of the techniques in Selling against the goal, and have reaped tremendous benefits from what this wonderfully written book has to offer.

Kendra Lee is an expert on helping sales professional generate the leads that they need to be successful in growing their share of the business. Kendra provides in easy-to-implement guideline on building a successful stream of new business leads.

It is the ultimate survival guide and a "must have" for all sales professionals. This book will give you the motivation to look at you business from a different perspective, a new hope to success and practical tools of the trade to bring your vision into reality.

This is a niche book for your sales library. If possible I would give it 3.5 stars.

If you are looking to establish sales metrics for yourself or a sales team this book is worth the money. Buy it if that is your motivation. You won't be disappointed.

Outide of metrics I don't recommend this book.