Streetwise Customer-Focused Selling: Understanding Customer Needs, Building Trust, and Delivering Solutions...the Smarter Path to Sales Success [Paperback]

Bob Adams (Author), Nancy J. Stephens (Author, Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Streetwise | Publication Date: August 1997

Streetwise is devoted exclusively to business topics. From writing business plans, to financing, to building Web site traffic, these books provide everything ambitious business professionals need. Business happens in the real world, not the classroom. Streetwise recognises this and delivers the goods - fast. No fluff. No wasted time. Just cutting-edge information managers and small business entrepreneurs need to run their business successfully.

Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558507256
• ISBN-13: 978-1558507258
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #469,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with useful information, March 28, 2000

By 

B. Campbell "akreader" (Anchorage, Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Streetwise Customer-Focused Selling: Understanding Customer Needs, Building Trust, and Delivering Solutions...the Smarter Path to Sales Success (Paperback)

This book is well written, laid out nicely and packed with information about successful sales based on understanding customer needs, building trust and delivering solutions. Every chapter has good background information, useful lists and "to dos" and examples. Great for the salesperson, sales manager or marketing professional. There are lots of immediate takeaways in this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what we need today in Business the 5 Ps, July 24, 2000

By 

sayed omar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Streetwise Customer-Focused Selling: Understanding Customer Needs, Building Trust, and Delivering Solutions...the Smarter Path to Sales Success (Paperback)

This book is realy what we need in Business today, how to understanding customer needs and tell us the 4 Ps that any marketing must be dealing with besides the Customers that most marketer think that the customer is out of the 4 Ps because the all 4 Ps surrounding it, but when you read this book you will see the 5 Ps or 6 Ps must be focusing in one P ( peoale) who is the king " customer is the king', so have fun. sayed Omar AUC.Egypt. [e-mail]

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Comprehensive Sales Book for Beginner, October 29, 2004

By 

T SANTOSO (Surabaya, Jatim Indonesia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Streetwise Customer-Focused Selling: Understanding Customer Needs, Building Trust, and Delivering Solutions...the Smarter Path to Sales Success (Paperback)

There are tons of salesmanship books, this one is actually for beginners, and it is a good one. I do a lot of seminars and trainings, and a lot of materials inside this book can be used to help people learn selling process. I heartily recommend this one for people who just entered the selling field. It is also a good reference guide for the veteran sales (especially if he/she is from the old type of sales who often only push the products/company and focus on technique and sales tricks). The book try to convey the importance of looking from the customer point of view. This book is NOT a "pumping" motivational type of sales book. But comes in a generil selling strategy and common good advices. Along with SALES BIBLE, it will be a great collection for any sales proffesional. This book is more "structured" in the way it presents the material. The materials flows well and easy to read and understand.

Chapters include:
1.Everyone can sell.
2.What's wrong with the old approach?
3.Cutomer Focused Selling.
4.Knowledge is Power.
5.Finding New Customers.
6.Getting in the door.
7.Pre-Call.
8.Breaking the Ice.
9.Building Trust.
10.Understanding the Buyers.
11.Selling by asking questions.
12.Shut-Up and Sell (Listening).
13.Selling Solution.
14.Getting Past Objection.
15.Gaining Agreement (Closing).
16.Follow up.
17.Referalms.
18.Networiking.
19.Getting Noticed.
20.Enthusiastic.
21.Goal Setting.
22.Time Management.
23.12 keys to success.
24.12 mistakes.
25.Dresss For Success.
26.Selling to Multiple Decision Making.
27.Wining and Dining.
28.Electronics Media.
29.Sales Coach.
30.Succeed with CFS

The materials are just right for the beginner and it is quiet comprehensive and correct. Consultant or Sales Manager can use this for training their sales people. I like this type approach better that the usual "self-help" type of sales book which usually only play the emotional pump and describing success more that the right way to do selling. As any selling book, the book is not specialized into any particular products/service, but more generic one that can be aplied quiet commonly.

SPIN SELLING is a more "specialized" one for "larger sales" and for more experienced sales veteran. I also would like to recommend some other type of books especially the psycological approach ones like INFLUENCE (by Cialdini) or Understanding People (DISC:Inscape book) Success nowadays is not only a matter of knowing a "secret", but comes from continual desire to learn and grow, and change and getting better and better. Any tiny comparative advantage will be useful in this extremely competitive age.