Winning the Professional Services Sale: Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An innovative approach to winning more profitable sales in the growing professional services industry

In recent years, professional services providers have had to rethink their sales methods and adapt to profound changes in the way clients buy services. In response, Winning the Professional Services Sale argues for fundamental changes in the seller's mindset and sales strategies. Rather than pressing the sale, salespeople must help clients buy--the way that works best for each client. This new approach gives buyers what they now want in a services seller: a consultative problem solver, change agent, and solution integrator, all rolled into one. Author Michael McLaughlin presents a strategy for winning new business with a holistic approach to each client relationship. Only by fully understanding a sale from every angle, including its impact on the client's business and career, can salespeople thrive in the new era of the service economy.

Michael W. McLaughlin is the coauthor of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants and a principal with MindShare Consulting LLC, a firm that creates innovative sales and marketing strategies for professional services companies. Before founding MindShare Consulting, he was a partner with Deloitte Consulting.

From the Inside Flap

In recent years, professional services providers have had to rethink their sales strategies because so many of their tried-and-true approaches no longer work. Clients ask tougher questions and demand better answers. They expect to guide the sales process, and they insist that services providers customize proposals and presentations down to the last detail. They won't tolerate false sincerity, artificial deadlines, and preprogrammed sales strategies.

Instead, clients want more certainty about potential results before they commit their resources. Being a good salesperson is no longer enough. You must draw clients to you with your ideas, rather than chase them with outdated sales tactics. You must also identify clients' real problems, persuasively advocate for change, and effectively manage complex sales.

Whether your company sells business services or legal advice, outsourcing solutions, or management consulting, Winning the Professional Services Sale is the ideal guide for anyone who wants to close more profitable sales on a consistent basis. It presents a flexible, dynamic sales framework that suits the needs of the most demanding clients. It's an effective way to organize a client-specific strategy that leads to the sales you want—no matter what services you sell or who you sell them to.

Once you master Michael McLaughlin's innovative sales strategies, you'll learn to connect with clients, collaborate on fulfilling their needs, and commit to getting the job done. Rather than a salesperson, you'll become a business partner. Because of the strength of your ideas and the depth of your relationships, you'll be the first one who comes to mind when your clients need help.

In today's professional services sales, your interests and those of your clients are inseparable. Now more than ever, your clients are the ones calling the shots. With Winning the Professional Services Sale, you'll learn to give them exactly what they want—and take your business to profitable new heights.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470455853
• ISBN-13: 978-0470455852
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,788 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An easy read that teaches you a lot, September 6, 2009

By	M. Rosenthal (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked this book up to read on a flight home. I have been consulting for over 30 years and quickly found this to be one of the most insightful books written about selling consulting services. I usually skim a book's introduction, but I read this one twice... it lays out a precise framework that McLaughlin will then build around in the rest of the book. His basic Connect - Collaborate - Commit framework succinctly nails how the nature of professional services sales has changed. He consistently takes conventional wisdom and changes how you think about it. The value of this book is how McLaughlin gets you clearly focused on not only what is important, but how to do each step.

Even if you don't immediately read the entire book, each "Sanity Check" tip box is worth reading as soon as you get a copy. These are practical, immediately implementable tips that will quickly improve how you interact with your potential clients. Kudos to Michael McLaughlin for a great business book that cuts through the jargon and gives you perspectives that you can actually apply.

P.S. You also have to love anyone who can paraphrase a Ricky Ricardo / Lucille Ball quote and work it into a business book (page 36)!

4.0 out of 5 stars Shows how to succeed by making your clients successful, October 4, 2009

By	Merrill Clark "Merrill Clark" (Stratham, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As I first started reading, I got the impression this book was written primarily for service providers dealing with big, corporate type clients. I was bummed out, since I'm a small firm dealing with small to midsize businesses and didn't think the book would help me.

However, as I continued to read further, I discovered a practical goldmine of valuable and actionable information regarding dealing with decision makers and buyers of all size companies, a section on how to write winning sales proposals, and how to deal with your clients after you make the sale.

Bottom line: Buy it! This book will be valuable to any service providers that need to sell there solutions to businesses of all sizes, from 1 man shops to big corporations.

5.0 out of 5 stars I think this could be the #1 sales book for 2009, September 20, 2009

By	Reg Nordman "(K)nights on the Road" (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very valuable book and at the front of my line to be the sales book for 2009 IMHO. There is just too much great stuff in this book to summarize for you. The author published with Jay Levinson Guerilla Marketing for Consultants, which I also found very useful. The core (book jacket) is rather than pressing the sale, salespeople must help clients buy-the way that works best for each client. Only by fully understanding a sale from every angle, including its impact on the client's business and career, can salespeople thrive in the new era of the service economy. He really makes the point that selling is getting harder all the time, and the pro salesman must always search for and learn new things. I really liked hearing his comments on long term clients expecting more from you over time as well as expecting you to be always getting faster at doing it.