Talking Heads... Not!

T his book has been around for a while, so you might have read it. But if you are not happy with the way your sales force has been performing, it might be a good time to pick up the book again.

Of course, if you haven't read "Rethinking The Sales Force," by Neil Rackham and John DeVincentis1, then buy it, read it and get some help.

For a lot of people managing salespeople in the past - and, unfortunately, for some even today - a sales force exists only to "communicate the value of the sales offering," and nothing more. In other words, the job of a salesperson is to explain the features and use of a product or service. In some sense, they think of salespeople as talking heads and pray for the day a robot can do this job.

Well, first off, these authors don't think like that. No organization can survive, the authors argue, if it doesn't find a way through its products and services to create value for customers. Every function in the organization, from product design to after-sales service, must be focused on giving customers what they want and need, and that includes the sales force.

This book shows you how to transform your sales force from value communicators to value creators and how to match a specific selling strategy - "transactional," "consultative" or what the authors call "enterprise" selling - to the category that fits your customer.

This is a good read and will share some real on-the-street advice, such as how to create value for your customers within each selling strategy and how to redesign the sales process depending on the type of customers you have.

This book will help you if you have a large sales force or a small one, but the first step is to understand that the days of the talking brochure are over.