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BOOK REVIEW ON YOU CAN SELL

By Shiv Khera

Results Are Rewarded, Efforts Arent

SUBMITTED TO : DR. ANIL GUPTA SUBMITTED BY : RAGHAV GANDOTRA


( 27-MBA-10 ) DATE : OCT 03, 2011

You can sell is a yet another book from the International Bestseller author Shiv Kheda. Its like the Bible for a sales professional and is sure to be one of your most treasured books. If you want to: Gain success and avoid pitfalls Meet and exceed your goals Establish credibility and grow Gain a competitive edge Learn the qualities of a winning professional. This book is for you. This is what is the design text on the back side of the book. The author begins with asking a question: Arent we all selling? A candidate at a job interview. The candidate is selling his candidature and the interviewer is selling his company. A boy and girl proposing to get married. A politician making speeches to get votes. A lawyer arguing his clients case in the court. A government body negotiating a major contract. Our selling ability determines the success or failure of any transaction. He shares the definition of a salesperson as given by Robert Stevenson Anyone who sells a product, service or an idea is a sales person.

Selling is a Win-Win or Lose-Lose Game. When a seller sells the solution, it is called win-win, because both parties end up gaining and vice versa. Selling is considered to be a function of marketing. When sales results are good, marketing takes credit. When sales are bad, the sales department and sales people are blamed. Selling has become a bigger challenge today than it was yesterday because today a buyer has many other options, competition has become more sophisticated, media has made people more knowledgeable and aware. There is a terminology called Caveat Emptor which means Buyer Beware. This is the old thinking. Today the scenario is Seller Beware. This is because seller is perceived as an expert in his field. Today the buyer is relying on the sellers character and competence to sell him the right product. This is where the sellers intergrity is put to test. The book teaches about the principles not tactics about the good professional salesperson. This is because tactics are manipulative, whereas, principles have their foundation on the following values : Integrity Respect Responsibility The book describes about how the author, Shiv Kheda started his career in selling. He says the world only rewards results, not efforts.

Selling is more a matter of will than skill and we need both. An elite sales professional is like a race horse with the winners edge and the athlete who wins by fraction of a second, but is rewarded 10 times more. There are two types of rewards for every sales professional Internal and external. Internal rewards are intangible and can only be felt. Intrinsic rewards come only when the salespersons actions are driven by positive values and attitude. They include : Gratification, Satisfaction, Fulfilment, Meaningfulness, Peace of mind, Happiness, Security & Confidence. The external rewards are tangibles and are driven by ambition, goals and hard work. External rewards include: Monetary rewards (wealth), Recognition, Respect, Prestige, Good life and Comfort. A good sales professional can have a great income and a fulfilling career, regardless of his products or company. Selling is nothing but the transfer of enthusiasm from the seller to the buyer. Selling is 90% conviction and 10% communication of conviction. Pride in performance and the profession of selling can only come when we internalize and merge character and competence together, to create something called great sales professional. For that we need to understand the principles of selling and the process involved. They are as follows :
Commitment to be a good sales professional Focus on goals Acquiring competencies in selling skills Creating and following a selling system

Putting in an organised efforts Giving and getting respect Learning to relate to people Lead generation and prospecting Qualifying prospects Learning to approach to built rapport Building trust Identifying the decision-making process and key decision-makers Fact-finding and making presentations Learning to ask questions to direct the sales call Uncovering the need of the customer Providing solutions Overcoming resistance Closing a sale Keeping post-sales commitments and service Building the post-sales relationship Avoiding the mistakes and learning from experiences Learning how to stay motivated and how to handle rejections

All of these can be classified into 3 distinct activities the presales, the actual sales and the post-sales and all are necessary in order to be a good professional. The mistaken belief is that one needs no qualification or talents to make a

success in the profession of selling. The fact is that selling skills are acquired even by great professionals. None of us are born with them. A positive attitude determines success. A very commonly used story used by many sales managers- two salesman went to Africa, both went to sell shoes in different parts of the same country. They both saw villagers without shoes. One immediately sent a message back to his manager saying There is no market here. Nobody wears shoes and hence I am coming back. The other sent a message saying, Get ready for big sales- there is a huge market here. Nobody wears shoes here and we can make everyone wear them. Gear up production. The difference is the attitude. Ability teaches us how to Do, Motivation decides why we Do, Attitude determines how well we Do. So long as you have your eyes on the goal, you dont see obstacles. The moment you take your eyes off the goal, you start seeing obstracles. What really separates a successful salesman from mediocre one are 3 important attributes : Attitude Mental toughness Ambition Burning desire with clarity of thoughts

Action Translating dreams into reality or potential into profits. Discipline is doing what ought to be done, when it ought to be done, whether we like it or not. The quality of a persons life is in direct proportion to their commitment to success, regardless of their chosen field to endeavour. - Vince Lombardi Edison said that Success is 95% perception and 5% inspiration. There are 6 Cs that define qualities of a winning profession Character Make ethics a way of life Courage Courage to continue despite setbacks Conviction Has belief in his product, profession and organisation Clarity Has clear goals and purpose of life Competence has the skills and the will to sell Communication Persuasion skills and ability to convince Selling is not measured by how high we go up in life, but how many times we bounce back after we fall down. It is a rejection business. The author says that building a relationship is a process and not an event. Buyers are willing to reward sellers

who have positive attitude, empathy, reliability, dependability, credibility, enthusiasm, quality product, speed of delivery, personalised principle, a wining principle, professionalism, sincerety, persistence, respect and recognition, transparency and responsiveness.And buyers dislike things like dishonesty, shabby appearance, oversized egos, fast talkers, being pushy, pests and lack of transparency. He says selling has changed. FROM Attention -10% Interest 20% Desire 30% Action 40% TO Rapport 40% Need 30% Solution 20% Close 10%

He says questions are the answers and selling is not telling, it is answering questions. ABC of selling is ALWAYS BE CLOSING. Great minds have purposes, others have wishes Washington Irving Dreams and wishes are nothing more than desires. Desires are weak. Dreams become goals only when they are supported by : Direction Dedication Discipline Determination Deadlines

Most people confuse dreams with goals. They have dreams and they think they have goals. Goals are dreams with a deadline, a clear direction and a plan of action. Goals must be SMART. S M A R T Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time bound

Goals out-of-reach are motivating, goals out-of-sight are demotivating. The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed. -Lloyd Jones A sales person should behave ethically in all his dealings with everyone. Ethical behaviour is not a strategy, but a way of life. Good sales professionals sell products and services, they sell their profession time but not their conscience. Some of the great leaders in the world like Lincoln, Churchill, and Martin Luther King were also great sales people. They sold their ideas to the world and the masses started supporting them. They spoke from their hearts and not just their mouths.

Their words carried weight because their foundations were based on principle of integrity. The author says If you asked the great professionals in the world, how they would describe themselves in one word, that word would be, UNSTOPPABLE. The last thought from the author says BECOME UNSTOPPABLE AND SELL YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS

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