Making the Technical Sale: Real World Training for the Successful Sales Consultant (Paperback)

~ (Author), James Milbery (Author) "The book you are holding in your hands is both a labor of love and a product of necessity..." (more)
Key Phrases: many sales consultants, objection grid, other sales consultants, Technology Life Cycle, Demo Demons, Popular Market (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The technical sales professional fills a valuable role in the sales cycle of a software product. This book discusses how technical sales is different from general sales, details the full range of skills needed by technical sales professionals, illuminates the typical tasks technical sales professionals handle, and explores the role these people play on the sales team. It covers basics such as presentation skills, working in a team, and time management; specifics such as creating and delivering demos, working with groups of prospects, handling objections, and competitive positioning; and the overall technical sales cycle. Sales and project managers, consultants, and technical sales professionals will benefit from the depth of training offered in this book.

About the Author

James F. Milberry of Easton, Pennsylvania, is principal of Milberry Consulting Group. Before founding his own business, he spent several years as a technical sales force manager, most recently with software providers Revere Inc. and Ingres Corp. He has personally trained more than 700 sales consultants in his career. He is co-author with Richard E. Greenwald of "The Oracle WebDB Bible."

Product Details

• Paperback: 385 pages
• Publisher: Muska & Lipman Publishing; 1 edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966288998
• ISBN-13: 978-0966288995
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 3.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #510,087 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SE's will find this invaluable, March 28, 2001

By	"wcmedows" (Haverhill, MA United States) - See all my reviews

I have only read the first four chapters (book in hand as of tonight...) and skipped around to get an over all impression of this text. All in all, I am impressed. While this is not a sales training manual, it focuses on the role of a Sales Consultant as the book calls the position. This is something that is fresh in the sales guide realm. I have personally attended over 1000 hours of sales training, been a sales trainer and sales manager, I chose to move into the role of Sales Consultant because I like playing with all the toys, being a technical authority, and because I like creating vision around products I believe in. Having had a sales background and a career change about 7 years ago into technical fields, I have a passion for selling and technology. I finally have found a book that seems to accurately describe what I do and help me become more effective in my current career. While I may not use every paradigm in the book, I have not found anything in here that I won't use, unlike many other Sales products on the market today. Read this book, if you are a sales person who relies on a pre-sales person, buy it for him or her, you will be the one reaping the rewards. If you are a manager of Pre-Sales, this might be the best tool you have to train new staff. HR folks might be able to use this to define the roles they are trying to fill. Perhaps you might not use everything, but without doubt, if it applies to what you do, you will come away with much more than you might think.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Expected More, January 25, 2003

By A Customer

Based on the reviews, I expected more. If you want a checklist of the most rudimentary things a sales consultant or S.E. should know - this is a good source. While I doubt anyone could argue with any of the things the authors say, most of what they say is so obvious and non-debatable that the question is - was it worth saying?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need to know how to be an SE???, June 7, 2004

By	Frank Cantarelli (Springfield, VA United States) - See all my reviews

I came to the "Sales Consultant" position from technical engineering background with no sales experience and have found this book very informative and helpful in my new carrier. If you are involved in pre-sales engineering, this book should accompany you as a resource wherever you go. This material is so valuable for sales consultants I quite honestly believe anyone who is in or thinking about getting into sales consulting should read this book!