|
Monday, September 24, 2007
Selling the Wheel
I just read a really excellent book about sales. It's
called Selling
the Wheel. This book was recommended to me by Neil Davidson of Red Gate.
At first I didn't like it. After reading several chapters,
I was ready to email Neil and tell him he missed. But as I kept reading, I
started to understand where the book was headed. By the end, I was hooked.
This book is extremely good.
It's written in the form of a lighthearted story. I found
it to be a very easy and fun read, but it's also very thought provoking.
One of my favorite axioms of business is that context
determines strategy and tactics. As a company goes through the various stages
of its life, the stuff that works in one stage will probably produce failure in
the next. A bad idea now might very well be a good idea later.
It's easy to forget this when we are hiring. We go looking
for someone with experience in sales, marketing or project management. But in
what context did he or she gain that experience? Many successful people
think that there is exactly one best way to perform their job function. They
tried something. It worked. So they figure that's the right way to do it
every time. Very few people understand that there are several good ways to
approach their area of specialty, and the right way is determined by the
context.
It's the same problem with authors. Books on sales and
marketing fall into two categories:
- Books that tell you the right way to do sales and
marketing.
- Books that tell you lots of good ways to do sales and
marketing and how to choose the right approach for your particular
situation.
Selling the Wheel is an example of the latter.
Anyway, great book.
BTW, you are going to Neil's conference at the end of October,
right? :-)
| 
