Selling Microsoft: Sales Secrets from Inside the World's Most Successful Company [Paperback]

Doug Dayton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

Microsoft insider Doug Dayton shows how innovative sales tactics helped drive the company to its unprecedented "total domination" of the personal computer software market-and how you can use the same techniques to increase your own sales!

As an Account Manager for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for Microsoft, Dayton was responsible for closing over 40 percent of the company's OEM contracts-involving millions of dollars in sales to major high-tech businesses. In Selling Microsoft, he shares his powerful, unique sales system-known as "Client-Centered Selling"-that helped him transform the OEM sales organization into one of the most successful and effective in the business.

Along with his fascinating look inside Microsoft, Dayton gives you:
Proven communication techniques that will convince your clients to help you sell them!
Guidelines for navigating corporate bureaucracies-how to find and sell key decision-makers
Strategies for creating new uses for existing products or services-developing new clients and whole new markets
Tips for foolproof new product demonstrations-even if you don't have a technical background
Scores of other practical, proven techniques you can put to work now to increase your sales

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Dayton, previously a sales and contract support manager for Microsoft, now heads Client-Centered Training, Inc., whose methods he espouses in his book. The method consists of several steps: identify prospective customers; qualify the possibility of purchase according to need, budget, buying authority, and time; verify that the customers understand why the purchase is appropriate and that the salesperson has addressed all their concerns; then ask the customers for their business. The author reveals little about Microsoft here, other than the "smoke and Windows" technique, a maneuver demonstrating a prototype that was not really functional. Dayton uses his methods for selling technical, high-dollar systems, but a salesperson could apply his methods in part or in modified form to other sales circumstances. Comprehensive, detailed, and motivational, this is recommended for any library with a business collection covering sales.?Peggy D. Odom, Texas Lib. Assn., Waco
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Selling Microsoft is jam-packed with ideas and techniques that will provide even the most experienced sales professional with new insights into sales success. An absolute "must read" for any sales person that wants to make the big bucks!" -- Dick Swain, Training & Education Manager, AT&T Wireless Services

"Whether you are a frontline sales professional or a seasoned sales manager, Selling Microsoft will help you take a fresh look at you selling techniques. A great book!" -- Rodger Baca, District Sales Manager, Federal Express

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation; 1st edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580620523
• ISBN-13: 978-1580620529
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,479,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on selling high technology products, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Selling Microsoft: Sales Secrets from Inside the World's Most Successful Company (Paperback)

This book is one of the best books on selling high technology products on the market. It provides invaluable knowledge on a full range of selling topics including effective time management, marketing, sales support, sales people, sales managers, and customer support. The section on time management was very helpful. When I first started reading it I was wondering why the author took the time to insert a chapter on time management when there are so many books devoted to the subject. Before I realized it I was saying to my self, "... this is happening to me every day I must take control of my schedule." The Client Centered approach to sales is the central focus of the book and is described in detail. Some of the methods presented in the Client Centered approach have been presented in other books, but the author did an excellent job of bringing together the various ideas into a well-defined plan. The forms and checklists included are a valuable addition, and help in transforming the ideas presented into a plan of action. I was so impressed with the book that I am purchasing copies for all my sales and marketing people.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but..., May 3, 2002

By 

Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Selling Microsoft: Sales Secrets from Inside the World's Most Successful Company (Paperback)

This book is a nice short piece on the nuts and bolts of selling, but be forewarned: it has about as much to do with Microsoft and its methods as I do (hey, I'm running Office 2000 on my computer, woohoo!).

You get the occassional gem about taking Bill Gates along on a sales call. That's what you call a closer. But that's about it. Other than that, Dayton could be describing how to sell cardboard. Not that it's a bad thing. But if you're looking for strategic selling techniques for high technology sales, best look elsewhere.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great tech sales roadmap, April 19, 2000

By 

P. Velgos (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Selling Microsoft: Sales Secrets from Inside the World's Most Successful Company (Paperback)

As opposed to most "hot new" sales approaches which focus on changing your personal style, this book does a great job of providing a strategic step-by-step plan from A-Z. It's void of fluff and gets right to the point of outlining the nuts and bolts of the process including pre-sales planning, performance tracking, maintaining growth, and time management. It's worth reading in general and especially for those migrating into tech sales.