UnSelling: Sell Less ... To Win More

by Peter Bourke

The more you sell, the less the client trusts you to tell them the truth. The more you sell, the less inclined the client is to listen. The more you sell, the more you tend to look (and act) like a hammer looking for a nail – where any nail will do. In reality, the more you sell, the less you win.This is entirely counter-intuitive to the average sales person, mostly because we are taught from the first day of sales training that the key to success is great sales techniques. You can find thousands of books on the art and science of selling – techniques, tricks, even scripts to “sell” the prospect. Our corporate sales training classes always insisted that sales is about understanding the prospect’s needs and then articulating your solution so that the prospect was compelled to choose your obviously-superior solution – right? Not so fast! The most prospects don’t want to be sold. This book on UnSelling is designed to shift the buyer-seller relationship from subservient (they say, “Jump,” we say, “How high?”) to collaborative and does so by having the seller resist the temptation to “sell” (or tell). UnSelling is focused on the more consultative approach of understanding the problem the client is intent on solving. The better we understand the client’s problem, the less we have to sell (if at all). This eBook will outline an approach to control and win the most complex deals that • Qualifying new clients that requires no “selling” – period!• Understanding how to create a collaborative relationship with the prospect so that your sales teams can understand the truth from the client – not what they want you to believe• Contrasting the difference between traditional selling and this unique approach to UnSelling• And understanding what to say and how to say itYour sales people and leaders will never “sell” the same way again – and will win more as a result.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 2011

Reviews

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge sales person, never have been and of course the only thing I hate more than selling is someone trying to sell to me. My grandmother used to work at a car dealership for her entire adult life so I grew distaste at a very young age for both parts of the process. This book teaches you how to sell without actually selling the product. You aren't selling by doing demos and such, but this is a very client-centric solution. You are helping them figure out what they need and while you may or may not be the best fit, that is what you are there to figure out. Instead of talking, one is listening... I like this approach much more.

[Kevin Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unselling - Helping the client find solutions to business problems

This is a great book to remind sales people that above all ask questions and then Listen! While there will always be significant pressure to perform just selling the client isn't effective. This book is an excellent study in sales as a trusted advisor and consultant. This is a good companion book to The Challenger Customer.

[Finntastic Explanations · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that stresses transparency and open communication with the entire sales process. Truth and transparency in sales are paramount! The book does an excellent job reorienting old sales techniques so people are at their best through the sales journey. Highly recommended for sales professionals!

[Anthony Deluca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book with an excellent approach to developing partnerships with clients and potential clients. It's title is pretty accurate because it is not about selling at all, however the result of this approach will lead to better business development through partnering with and helping your clients.

[Martin Kilarski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bourke teaches readers how they can provide clients with a lot of value even before they choose to buy from you. This way you develop a stronger relationship and trust, which will provide you with value for years to come. I think this is a valuable lesson in many parts of life.

[Danielle West · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book full of excellent tips on a new way to sell - or Unsell, if you will. For me, it was less of an eye opening, novel new way of doing things than an affirmation that my way of sales may have been right all along.

I used to be a telemarketer. For eight months I sold cell phones and plans through cold calling. I hated it, mostly because I was awful at it. If I could find someone who was interested in talking for a moment, I could quickly find out if we had something that was a good fit for them, but I was really bad at pushing someone into buying something that they really didn't want. This book confirmed for me that my way of selling is just as valid - if not better - than that of your classic sales person. Just not if you're a telemarketer.

Really, the only complaint I have about this book is one that is always a big one I have for non-fiction books - unnecessary exclamation marks. It makes me crazy. It's as if the author is saying, "Look!!! LOOK! THIS INFORMATION IS VERY NOVEL AND INTERESTING!! I am ever so clever to have written it!!", which if what you're writing is actually novel and interesting, the reader is already going to notice it. It's actually a little insulting - like the author doesn't think I'm smart enough to figure out what is important or not. More often, though, the unnecessary exclamation mark accompanies information that is not nearly as big of a surprising breakthrough as the author thinks it is. If this was a face-to-face interaction, it would be the kind of thing I'd respond to with a sigh, and an urge to move things a long. "Yes, we all get it, you're very smart, now lets get on with it." What's even worse is that in Unselling, a lot of the information presented in conjunction with the dreaded punctuation actually was interesting and clever. Making it it even more annoying and jarring. Seriously, if you're writing a non fiction book and you think to yourself, "Should I have an exclamation mark at the end of this sentence?" - Unless you're quoting someone, the answer is no.

..Anyway...

On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful I'd give it an Pretty Great. The information was interesting and even if you are a "classic salesperson", there are some ideas you could (and I would argue should) adopt. Plus, it's free, so the only thing it's going to cost you is a bit of your time. It's no a particularly long book, so there is really no reason for one that is interested in sales shouldn't read it. Just watch out for unnecessary exclamation marks.

[Eugene Fedrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I am going into leading sales position. I love the techniques that were defined in this book. I'm looking forward to applying some of these practices in future buyer/seller meetings. I'd recommend this awesome short read book to anyone interested in enhancing their selling approach.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book with a caveat. This applies to complex solution selling. Not everything is applicable to high frequency commodity product selling. There are a wealth of concrete examples of how to execute the consultative sale.

[Dori Gehling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for business people....not just sales people. Rather than sales strategies and closing techniques, Unselling offers helpful relationship building strategies for the modern salesperson which is the key to a healthy referral business, more control over your time and a happier life.

[Giovanni Casinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new approach is proposed and well explained. It's very sound too.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not incredibly well written but the concepts are absolutely solid. Helpful book for any salesperson.

[Joel Ungar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a concise version of Sandler selling to me. Good approach to selling that will set you apart from your competition.

[Juichia Che · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently unconventional for B2B sales.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best sales books I've read to get my head on straight about what I'm really doing, and why. It's free on Amazon (I don't know why?), it's short, and it's powerful!

[Dominik Szmaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genialna książka, wracam do niej po nowe pomysły za każdym razem jak potrzebuję mocnych argumentów w rozmowie z klientem.

[Beatrice Lapa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting points (and I agree with most of them), but the writing style wasn't something I'd find terribly exciting and I can't put my finger on what's wrong.

[Mariella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting approach. Only partially applicable in some countries where part of the unselling approach would be misunderstood by potential client (= free consultancy = give me more).

[Rae Gholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read it for work.