If you have read a Subroto Bagchi book before, you know what to expect. Unlike many management, especially leadership, authors who merely aggregate the experiences of other successful personalities or mere observations, his ingenuity of the narratives builds a personal connect. Moreover, his transparency of attributing narratives, skills, and experience to team members as well as acquittances adds to the authenticity.
You can also read our blog on Sales, too much more than a soft skill to understand the depth and spectrum of the subject.
Sales is considered as purely a soft skill that relies more upon the approach and attitude of the executive than his hard skills or subject matter expertise. Moreover, sales career also provides an opportunity to earn lucrative incentives, making it the career of choice for many non-technical personnel. Although sales is a subject by itself, as you read through, you will realise that it is not an independent silo and overlaps with domains such as marketing, legal and product at various junctures. For instance, one can leverage the marketing wizards to create more personalised experience; whereas presale client requirements discussions with product team can change the entire ballgame. This book not only describes the upsides of such collaboration but also the downsides of single player approach.
Through career experiences, the author highlights the importance of various characteristics required to develop the approach and attitude of an expert salesman. As this requires sincere efforts and persistent attitude, the author warns against complacence, or ignorance, that can plateau career growth. One of the mentioned characteristics, I was pleased to find is empathy, or concern, for the challenges that have compelled the prospect to seek a solution. Although you might well-versed with consultative approach, empathy may get churned in the pursuit of sales cycles. There are many such nuggets conveyed through narratives to help cultivate the necessary attitude.
In addition to attitude, approach is another crucial factor. As most training programmes, especially in the unorganised sector, have become mere gospel filled adrenaline sessions led by motivational speakers, this is a rare book that divulges the secret.
Just as technology has revolutionised other aspects of business, it has also changed the way sales is conducted. Through experiences, the author describes the changes and their implications on the sales approach. For instance, earlier one had the opportunity to introduce oneself to make an impression, but today prospects develop certain prejudice from your LinkedIn Profile; and as an implication, one should first understand the prejudice rather than rushing into the scripted introduction recited more than a thousand times.
And finally, the personality! People want their choices to standout, for not only what they purchase but also from whom they purchase. And this applies to the individual as well as to the company. For instance, you would want to buy electronics from an environment conscious company that cares about e-waste; and you would be more pleased to buy it from an executive who blogs about this elephant in the room rather than someone who surfaces cosmetic concern.
Although not explicitly, this book subtly hints many such changes for individuals and companies. One such critical concern is about the cosmetic nature of personality and features that are never carried beyond the brochures and presentations. If not all, most prospects see through it, and remaining may figure it our sooner or later and never return. Hence, apart from learning the tips and tricks of the trade, one should also look into the mirror to trace grounds for self-improvement.
Overall, this is must read book not only for sales professionals but also for entrepreneurs, business owner and founders, as sales is an important domain that is responsible for revenue generation and one needs to understand the subject to make the right decisions and allocate the priority it deserves.
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Feature Image Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
Savvy Munshi 