The Death of 20th Century Selling: 50 Hilarious Sales Blunders and How You Can Profit from Them

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Summary: Invaluable Learning Opportunities
Review: Presumably the salespersons involved did not find their blunders "hilarious." Hopefully, they learned something of value from them. Seidman has written a book about 50 "blunders" and then helps his reader to understand how to benefit from them. Each situation is followed by a brief "Postmortem." Seidman correctly suggests that his book not be read non-stop from beginning to end but I suggest that you skim read it, locking in on those specific situations which correlate with your own experiences. One of his most important points is that every salesperson makes "blunders" and each is a learning opportunity. His book enables readers to learn from the mistakes of others which range from not listening carefully to refusing to accept "Yes" as an answer. No single book on the general subject of salesmanship can possibly address all issues and all situations, much less provide definitive guidance on which strategies and tactics are most appropriate.

When I devise and then conduct what are necessarily "customized" sales training workshops, I first learn all I can about the specific marketplace in which the participants compete. Also, I learn as much as I can about the individual participants. Another important point which Seidman reiterates throughout the book is the importance of credibility which, really, is determined by the authenticity of a salesperson. Obviously, it is important to be fully-informed about the functions, features, and benefits of whatever is offered for sale. However, people do or do not "buy" the salesperson before agreeing to a purchase. Therefore, being (and being perceived to be) sincerely interested in the prospect's needs as well as the needs of the prospect's organization is of paramount importance. Their styles and skill levels may vary but all effective salespersons come across as being authentic (because they are) and thus the given prospect trusts them.

Near the end of his book, Seidman observes that: "The term system [italics] refers to the use of a model that copies the success of others. The system tells us what to say at the beginning of each sales call. It shows us the path to follow when encountering tough prospects, handling objections, filling out paperwork, even planning the pieces of each workday -- like the times we do phone calling and when we have face-to-face appointments." It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of having a system, whatever its specifics may be. For decades, salespersons at IBM were not only urged to "THINK": they were also required to plan their work and then work their plan. For Seidman, an evangelist of discipline and structure as well as of passion and enthusiasm, the purpose of a sales plan is to insure predictability. Specifically, Seidman explains, "It duplicates successful behavior. It disqualifies bad prospects quickly. It employs strategies that allow you, not the prospect, to control the sales process."

For whatever reasons, "blunders" are inevitable and thus to be expected...but NOT repeated. Much can be learned from the real-world situations which Seidman shares; also from the various "Postmortems" he adds. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Rackham's SPIN Selling (especially valuable to those selling "big ticket items") and Werth's High Probability Selling (especially valuable to those in retail and B2B sales). To these I add Gitomer's The Sales Bible. Like life itself, salesmanship involves a continuous, indeed constant learning process. Learn as much as you can, as soon as you can, from sources such as these. What you learn from your or (better yet) others' "blunders" will have even greater value if (huge "if") you effectively apply the lessons learned.

I conclude this review with one caveat. Because buyers have become highly sophisticated, probably because they have such extensive and varied experiences with the selling process, beware of seeming to "sell." Seidman's book can be of great value to you but ultimately it is your responsibility (and no one else's) to prepare for each opportunity with meticulous care, to establish credibility, and then to determine ASAP what the buyer's reasons are (NOT yours) for making a purchase. Ask the most successful salespersons what their "secret" is and they will tell you that they are sincerely, indeed passionately determined to serve (not sell) those in need of what they offer. They view such service as a privilege. In that context, an occasional "blunder" will be excused without loss of credibility.

Rating:
Summary: Clearly understandable, no-nonsense layman's language
Review: The Death Of 20th Century Selling: 50 Hilarious Sales Blunders And How You Can Profit From Them is far more than an just another amusing collection of anecdotes about prospective sales gone bad. Expert sales speaker and trainer Dan Seidman describes in fascinating detail how the Information Age has made buyers better educated than ever -- meaning that the old selling techniques from the 1980's and earlier are no longer effective against modern-day executives, who have already experienced strategies like the "Porcupine Close" countless times, and indeed, see what used to be the standard sales practice as manipulative or worse. The Death Of 20th Century Selling analyzes fifty sales blunders with a careful, searching "post-mortem" that dissects exactly what went wrong and how the salesperson might have avoided disaster. In addition, tips on reading body language, structuring a system, and especially dealing with sales partners and co-workers make for an indispensable reference. Written in open, frank, clearly understandable, no-nonsense layman's language, The Death Of 20th Century Selling is an absolute, unequivocal "must-read" for anyone and everyone in the business of sales, and makes for fascinating, uproarious, and utterly addictive reading for just about everyone else.

Rating:
Summary: The Selling Relationship
Review: This book shows you how to sell with scores of real-life examples (stories) followed with post-mortems where Seidman discusses the failure.

The stories alone are fascinating and worth the price of the book.

Dan Seidman knows what he is talking about. I have seen him in action. He know just what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. He instantly makes himself interesting, credible and fun.

This book is about relationships. Selling relationships.

Dan Poynter, ParaPublishing.com