Customer Reviews

On Selling Management

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book describes "The Path" which I have used at two different companies...and it works. We increased our pipeline significantly by following the methodology described in this book. Just as importantly, it gave the sales and management team a framework for tracking the sales activity and progress for each engagement. This takes common sense and puts it into a system.

This is not easy reading, but there is a lot of much-needed information in this well-written book. Many salespeople are left to their own whims. The authors, Lockhart and Herter, advise against this, but they do not believe in micro-management, either.
They explain that the sales department is where the money is actually generated, so it must be controlled to maximize its potential. They introduce the PATH system. In a nutshell, the PATH system puts professionalism into sales. Does it involve micromanaging? It should not have to. I believe the authors would agree that if you have a salesperson you have to micromanage, you should let them go.
Those in sales and academia will benefit from this book.

Sales are the bottom line - you make them, you make money. You don't, you lose money. "On Selling Management: The Path to a Better Top Line" is a business manual discussing advertising and the importance of sales. Describing a professionally designed "PATH" for business leaders, Ulrich and Spider draw upon decades of experience to bestow upon the reader. "On Selling Management" is of consideration to any business, of many sizes.

I would encourage everyone who has any dependency on sales in their company to read "On Selling Management" and implement The PATH as quickly as possible. After implementing The PATH we saw over a 100% increase in our sales pipeline after the completion of our first campaign!

The PATH is a selling management framework that proved adaptable to our current sales environment. We have applied the framework to three distinct teams that span; Inside Sales, Territory Sales and Strategic Account Sales teams.

The PATH has allowed us to measure certain "lead" indicators in our selling process whereas before this we were almost entirely dependent on "lag" indicators in measuring our sales team. The PATH allows both sales management and sales team members to speak the same language regarding selling activities, thus being in complete sync throughout the sales process.

The book is a must read for any organization that is serious and dependent on selling!

I was highly recommended this book by my Manager Sachin Kher who liked this book and the concept of PATH in particular. We are already in process of implementing this system into our sales management process.

The Path has improved the way I work and the book does a decent job of describing how and why the it should work for everyone. The path is not a quick fix, and there is no magic bullet. It is plain common sense, that allows you to focus on what is important. It gets you to a purchase agreement quicker and with greater odds than any other method I have used or been taught. It is a complete framework for managing your sales operations and the career of your sales people. This is not Steven King thriller I assure you, but if you invest in the critically important aspects of the sales game you will discover the results are scary. My companies success was predicated on the path. The common organizational language of the sales process was the Gospel internally. WIP, PDR, CDP, War Room all got us closer to our numbers and personal gain. My individual development as a professional seller improved dramatically and I will always focus on the five things that matter most. The book is good, getting everyone in the company on the same page, or path, is even better. I believe in the path and as a result I'm a better salesman than most. Since it may be in salespeople nature to be a bit selfish, I hesitate to say that I'm glad that Spider and Ulrich put this in writing, and are getting the word out.

On Selling Management is a great read for business school students, managers, entrepreneurs and anyone in the marketing profession. Well-written, interesting and entertaining, the book will certainly show you how to out-sell the competition. The book is split into 20 parts; from designing a PATH campaign to pitfalls along the way. The authors - Spider Lockhart & Ulrich Herter - provide a thorough and sophisticated treatment of sales management and the critical issues facing modern sales professionals. They understand the importance of a proper management framework and demonstrate step-by-step how to measure the activities that make selling happen.

We implemented PATH in early 2008. The results were significant. We doubled our pipeline in the 1st 10 weeks and have used the Weekly Production Status Reports (PSR), Solution Development Planners (SDP) and War Rooms to generate positive results quarter over quarter in 2008. We needed a sales process that was more than a Sales Methodology and PATH was the right choice for our company. I highly recommend that you reach out to these guys if you are in search of a sales process that will drive results.

I just finished "On Selling Management." I am business owner of a growing, competitive and by most measures, successful company. I'm proud of it, but having finished this book I realized something important and troubling to me: I don't run my sales staff as much as they and the processes involved run me. I want to remove the waste from my selling operation and increase its efficiency, I'm pretty confident the program laid out here will help me do that.

The case study presented here, in particular its downside, is eerily familiar, and it somehow mirrors many of the difficulties I face on a daily basis. The corrective actions are clearly defined and appear to be management protocols that I can implement and administer pretty easily. I'm going to implement the program as quickly as I can and put my sales group on The PATH and my company on a path to a better top-line, which is desperately needed in both a good and bad economy.

All in all, a good read that will get you thinking about how you manage (or don't manage) your sales department. Pick it up, you may not embrace the practices as I am going to, but it will make you think about your sales operation in a different light.

"On Selling Management" was a great refresher for me. I was introduced to the methods in a previous job and have taken many of the main points with me when I switched jobs. Like most sales people, when I was introduced to The PATH I went kicking and screaming, but after my first campaign I realized it was for me; I focused on, as the author's say, the 5 things that matters and my pipeline grew. I began using my "sales currency" appropriately and I found the selling efficiency I was looking for. I too became better at communicating with my managers and able to offer them the information they need without torturing me or them--we are both grateful for that. For Professional Sellers, chapters 6, 7 and 8 will take you to the heart of the matter and get you on The PATH, if you are like me and my colleagues that use the program, you will stay on it for the balance of your career.