Think Like Your Customer: A Winning Strategy to Maximize Sales by Understanding and Influencing How and Why Your Customers Buy

by Bill Stinnett

How to capture customers by learning to think the way they do The most common complaint Bill Stinnett hears from his corporate clients is that would-be vendors and suppliers "just don't understand our business." In Think Like Your Customer , Stinnett explains why the key to landing corporate customers is to learn to think about the things executives and business owners think about and understand how they make complex buying decisions. Drawing upon his years of experience as a Fortune 500 consultant, he offers sales and marketing professionals a powerful framework for understanding the inner workings of a business; knowing what motivates its executives and influences their buying decisions; identifying a company's organizational structure and decision-making psychology; and using that information to develop a winning strategy for influencing how and why the customer buys. In addition, you

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think Like Your Customer: A Winning Strategy to Maximize Sales by Understanding and Influencing How and Why Your Customers Buy by Bill Stinnett is a practical and engaging read for anyone involved in sales, marketing, or client management. What makes this book stand out is how clearly it shifts the focus away from “selling a product” and toward understanding how customers actually think and make decisions. Instead of relying on outdated sales tactics, Stinnett explains the importance of seeing business challenges from the customer’s perspective.

One of the strongest parts of the book is its real-world approach. The author uses relatable examples and straightforward explanations to show how executives evaluate vendors, budgets, risks, and long-term value. The advice feels realistic and usable, especially for professionals working with corporate clients or in B2B sales.

The writing style is easy to follow, conversational, and never overly technical, which makes the book approachable even for readers who are new to business strategy or sales psychology. The insights about decision-making, organizational structure, and customer motivation are especially valuable because they can be applied immediately in real business situations.

Overall, this is a smart and insightful book that helps readers improve not just their sales skills, but also their ability to build stronger professional relationships. It’s a useful resource for anyone who wants to communicate more effectively with customers and better understand what drives buying decisions.

[Abby Epplett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Bill Stinnett describes the best way to maximize sales: think like your customer. Really, the tip is in the title. Stinnett does elaborate extensively on how to think like the customer, including making the customer your primary focus whenever engaged in conversation with them, creating plans for your customer, and following up regularly. These are good tips for any relationship, not just when you are trying to sell something.

[Helfren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thinking like a salesperson in the world of moving information is a disadvantage. Using the power to think like customer instead helps the sales to happen and helps the customer to buy instead of discouraging them.

The very curious book on how to sell based on customers' behaviour.

[Jpb Fin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There may be a few points, upon which Bill and I disagree. For the most part, this Book is great advice and would be valuable to both new and experienced sales staff.

[Tracy Tibedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best sales book available

[M0rningstar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is geared towards B2B sales, particularly to large, hierarchical organizations. The core ideas are interesting and make a lot of sense. The author provides many examples to help the reader understand how to apply the techniques and tactics discussed.

While they are neat and would probably be very effective if successfully applied, some of the proposed techniques seem to require a level of access to one's prospects that may be unrealistic in most cases. I have trouble seeing a C-level exec or a VP laying out a corporation's long-term strategy and core weaknesses to a vendor, unless there's already a very strong prior relationship. In some of the scenarios described, if I were the prospective buyer, I would be really pissed that the vendor is wasting my time trying to "game" me instead of giving me straight answers and letting me decide for myself.

As mentioned, the emphasis is primary on larger prospects. There's practically no material dealing with sales to small-to-medium businesses, or outfits that are more fluid and have less of a monolithic culture (such as many in the tech industry, especially smaller shops.) However, some of the strategies and principles are probably flexible enough to be readily scaled and adapted to these situations.

Overall, it's a worthwhile read.

[Khoirunnida · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like a friend who shares experience and tips to you how to be great at marketing world. And yeah, think like your customer!
This Bill Stinnett book takes time to read, but definitely worth-it ;)

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok book, not what I needed.

[Aasim Waheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the summary; very good and insightful

[Tariq Sheikh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good ideas to manage and enhance your selling skills, worth reading.....

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. The single most valuable collection of information at this point in my career.