Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Rick Page (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Now In Paperback "No longer is being 'a good closer' the basis of sustainable success. Instead it takes the kind of strategic thinking Rick Page outlines in Hope Is Not a Strategy."

Product Description
Part common sense, part compendium of best-kept secrets from the world's best salespeople, this book presents a simple, six-step process for winning sales opportunities by:

Linking solutions to a prospect's business pain - For great value.
Qualifying the prospect - For forecasting accuracy.
Building competitive preference - By differentiating your solution.
Determining the decision-making process - For driving strategy.
Selling to power - By finding the key to buyer politics.
Communicating the strategic plan - For effective team selling.

Page's methodology lets everyone speak the same language for fast, winning results no matter how complex the deal. No matter how many people are involved in the buying decision. No matter how rapidly the competitive landscape shifts.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 178 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; illustrated edition edition (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966910249
• ISBN-13: 978-0966910247
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #131,915 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Beyond Sales Scripts to Adding Value for Customers, June 9, 2003

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale (Paperback)

Hope Is Not a Strategy is most valuable for those who are new to large account and large ticket selling. For those with lots of experience, the book is helpful in providing a structure for sales team planning and coordination.

As a test of the book's relevance, I took a potential sale that our firm is wrestling with and put it through the process. A number of valuable insights came from pursuing Mr. Page's process that would probably not have otherwise become part of our approach. Whether the sale will succeed or not, I don't know, but our effort definitely became more effective as a result. I happily give a book that provides that kind of benefit five stars. Thank you!

The book has four sections:

1. The Challenge -- The Complex Sale

2. The Solution -- R.A.D.A.R. (which stands for "R.eading A.ccounts and D.eploying A.ppropriate R.esources")

3. Strategies for Execution

4. Winning before the Battle -- Account Management

The first section was the least helpful to me (after pursuing complex sales for over 30 years, there wasn't really any new background here). If you are new to complex sales, this material will probably be a real eye-opener . . . especially if you are used to individual sales based on a standard approach. The most amusing section was on how to blend talent on a sales team to get the right mix of skills and orientation. You'll learn about Tellers, Sellers, Hunters, Farmers, Business Developers, Partners, and the Industry-Networked Consultant.

The second section was the heart of the book for me, describing R.A.D.A.R. which is "a simplified, six-step process that combines consultative, competitive, and political sales principles into a concise yet comprehensive process." There's a chapter on each element.

Value is the first challenge and you are supposed to link your solutions to the customer's pain or gain at the largest possible scale. Value stretches as a chain of value whose links (from highest to lowest value) are strategic advantage, political risk, financial return, cultural change, operational applications, and future/capability -- tools).

Resource allocation is the second challenge, and your job is to qualify the prospect to see if you can profitably deliver what that customer needs.

Selling strategy is the third challenge, and you try to "win their hearts before it starts" by looking at how you could win or lose in advance so you can build a competitive preference for you and your offering. This frequently involves developing the specifications.

Organizational politics is the fourth challenge, and you should go where the power is and keep climbing to higher levels. You should ideally sell to the CEO.

Teamwork is the final challenge and you accomplish this by communicating your strategic selling plan throughout your team and partners.

In the third section, the most useful part for me was encouragement to change issues and sales tactics to help your potential customer see the maximum advantage you can provide. This may mean changing the scope of the problem and the solutions you offer.

I felt most comfortable with the fourth section because I try to stay in contact with clients for many years in order to help them become alert to opportunities where we can help them. In the consulting business, that approach is important because almost everything is custom made for the client. You need to know each other well before you can help them in the best ways.

Throughout the book, there are sidebars with specific examples of the principles being described in the main text. These were helpful for the most part. My only complaint is that they were too often about selling computer systems.

If all of these points seem like second nature to you, you may find it more valuable to seek out a more advanced book on complex sales.

After you finish reading the book, think back to a complex sale that you unexpectedly lost. How could the process in this book have helped you to avoid that result?

Good luck!

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for others than just the sales reps!, February 5, 2002

By A Customer

This work is based on common sense selling principles that have proven themselves consistently in the enterprise level selling arena whether the solution is e-commerce enabling, network infrastructure or high value consulting. Page very effectively frames the complex selling environment itself before outlining a methodology to attack it. This is one of the primary strengths of the book and why I believe it is appropriate for readers other than just sales reps or sales managers.

The first five chapters of the book offer significant value to CEO's, CFO's, senior Marketing officers and other members of the management team who share in the responsibility for developing and understanding their company's "go to market" strategy. I have also recommended this book to friends in the venture community who are challenged by the fact that one or more of their portfolio companies is struggling with delivery of their value proposition and consistency of forecast information.

I am familiar with the methodology presented in the book having embraced it both in the ERP and internet worlds and find it to be presented in a logical, straightforward manner. Controlling the Complex Sale is the most comprehensive, yet implementable, methodology developed for the "knowledge worker" sales executive. Keeping this book at hand to frequently review the fundamentals can be of high value to sales executive or sales manager.

Highly recommended.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than you expect it to be!, May 14, 2003

By	Scott Burns (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am an avid reader, and successful sales executive. I have read nearly every book in the bibliography and many others on sales. I avoided buying this book for months because it looked "basic" when thumbing through it in airports and book stores. I finally bought the paperback version and I was amazed at how wrong I was. EVERY Sentence in the book is important! Tom Kosnik's quote on the cover is dead on. This book is worth the value of 12 books on sales in it takes every lesson learned in the field or taught in a book and presents it in a clear, logical and concise manner. It's not that the information is brilliantly new but it is brilliantly presented. Fantastic a must read!