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Insight Selling: Surprising Research on What Sales Winners Do Differently
What do winners of major sales do differently than the sellers who almost won, but ultimately came in second place? Mike Schultz and John Doerr, bestselling authors and world-renowned sales experts, set out to find the answer. They studied more than 700 business-to-business purchases made by buyers who represented a total of $3.1 billion in annual purchasing power. When they compared the winners to the second-place finishers, they found surprising results.
Not only do sales winners sell differently, they sell radically differently, than the second-place finishers.
In recent years, buyers have increasingly seen products and services as replaceable. You might think this would mean that the sale goes to the lowest bidder. Not true! A new breed of seller—the insight seller—is winning the sale with strong prices and margins even in the face of increasing competition and commoditization.
In Insight Selling, Schultz and Doerr share the surprising results of their research on what sales winners do differently, and outline exactly what you need to do to transform yourself and your team into insight sellers. They introduce a simple three-level model based on what buyers say tip the scales in favor of the
Level 1 "Connect." Winners connect the dots between customer needs and company solutions, while also connecting with buyers as people.
Level 2 "Convince." Winners convince buyers that they can achieve maximum return, that the risks are acceptable, and that the seller is the best choice among all options.
Level 3 "Collaborate." Winners collaborate with buyers by bringing new ideas to the table, delivering new ideas and insights, and working with buyers as a team.
They also found that much of the popular and current advice given to sellers can damage sales results. Insight Selling is both a strategic and tactical guide that will separate the good advice from the bad, and teach you how to put the three levels of selling to work to inspire buyers, influence their agendas, and maximize value. If you want to find yourself and your team in the winner's circle more often, this book is a must-read.
Not only do sales winners sell differently, they sell radically differently, than the second-place finishers.
In recent years, buyers have increasingly seen products and services as replaceable. You might think this would mean that the sale goes to the lowest bidder. Not true! A new breed of seller—the insight seller—is winning the sale with strong prices and margins even in the face of increasing competition and commoditization.
In Insight Selling, Schultz and Doerr share the surprising results of their research on what sales winners do differently, and outline exactly what you need to do to transform yourself and your team into insight sellers. They introduce a simple three-level model based on what buyers say tip the scales in favor of the
Level 1 "Connect." Winners connect the dots between customer needs and company solutions, while also connecting with buyers as people.
Level 2 "Convince." Winners convince buyers that they can achieve maximum return, that the risks are acceptable, and that the seller is the best choice among all options.
Level 3 "Collaborate." Winners collaborate with buyers by bringing new ideas to the table, delivering new ideas and insights, and working with buyers as a team.
They also found that much of the popular and current advice given to sellers can damage sales results. Insight Selling is both a strategic and tactical guide that will separate the good advice from the bad, and teach you how to put the three levels of selling to work to inspire buyers, influence their agendas, and maximize value. If you want to find yourself and your team in the winner's circle more often, this book is a must-read.
- GenresBusiness
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
87 people are currently reading
440 people want to read
About the author
Mike Schultz
6 books5 followersMike Schultz is a world-renowned speaker, researcher, and sales expert. He is author of several books, including WSJ Best-seller Rainmaking Conversations (Wiley, 2011).
As President of RAIN Group, Mike has grown the firm into a global leader, named a Top 20 Sales Training Company by Selling Power and Training Industry. In 2020, superior client results earned RAIN Group a Brandon Hall Award for Best Unique or Innovative Sales Training Program and four Gold Stevie Awards for Sales Training Practice of the Year, Sales Training Program of the Year, Sales Training Professional of the Year, and Business Development Achievement of the Year.
Mike and the team at RAIN Group have worked with national and international organizations such as Toyota, Citibank, Canon, Bright Horizons, BDO, Hitachi, Lee Hecht Harrison, Hologic, Optus, and hundreds of others to unleash sales performance.
As Director of the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, Mike and an analyst team study buying and selling relentlessly. Studies include Virtual Buying and Selling Challenges, Top Performance in Sales Negotiation, Extreme Productivity Benchmark Report, Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, The Value-Driving Sales Organization, What Sales Winners Do Differently, Top Performance in Strategic Account Management, Top Sales Leadership Challenges and Priorities, and The Top-Performing Sales Organization.
Business Week, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, MSNBC, and hundreds of others have interviewed and featured Mike's articles, research, and white papers. He frequently appears on top-ranked radio, TV, and podcast programs to discuss various sales topics and new research findings.
Named an influential sales professional by LinkedIn, Mike has presented at major events, including HubSpot INBOUND, Strategic Account Management Association’s Annual Conferences, Sales Leadership Conference, and Sales Operations Institute. In 2019, he was honored as a leading keynote speaker by Top Sales World.
Passionate about raising awareness of congenital heart defects (CHD) and organ donation, blogging at www.echoofhope.org, the American Heart Association (AHA) of Central Massachusetts honored Mike with the Heart of Gold Award in 2018.
Mike is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA with a B.A. in American Studies, and holds an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. He was an adjunct professor at both schools, teaching courses in marketing and sales.
You can download his free white papers, guides, and eBooks at www.raingroup.com/resources and watch his videos at www.youtube.com/raingroup. Follow Mike on Twitter at @Mike_Schultz and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mikeschultz50/
In addition to Rainmaking Conversations, his other top ranked sales books for sellers and sales leaders include:
• Professional Services Marketing (Wiley, 2013)
• Insight Selling (Wiley, 2014)
• Virtual Selling: How to Build Relationships, Differentiate, and Win Sales Remotely (2020)
•Not Today: The Productivity Code Revealed (2021)
As President of RAIN Group, Mike has grown the firm into a global leader, named a Top 20 Sales Training Company by Selling Power and Training Industry. In 2020, superior client results earned RAIN Group a Brandon Hall Award for Best Unique or Innovative Sales Training Program and four Gold Stevie Awards for Sales Training Practice of the Year, Sales Training Program of the Year, Sales Training Professional of the Year, and Business Development Achievement of the Year.
Mike and the team at RAIN Group have worked with national and international organizations such as Toyota, Citibank, Canon, Bright Horizons, BDO, Hitachi, Lee Hecht Harrison, Hologic, Optus, and hundreds of others to unleash sales performance.
As Director of the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, Mike and an analyst team study buying and selling relentlessly. Studies include Virtual Buying and Selling Challenges, Top Performance in Sales Negotiation, Extreme Productivity Benchmark Report, Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, The Value-Driving Sales Organization, What Sales Winners Do Differently, Top Performance in Strategic Account Management, Top Sales Leadership Challenges and Priorities, and The Top-Performing Sales Organization.
Business Week, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, MSNBC, and hundreds of others have interviewed and featured Mike's articles, research, and white papers. He frequently appears on top-ranked radio, TV, and podcast programs to discuss various sales topics and new research findings.
Named an influential sales professional by LinkedIn, Mike has presented at major events, including HubSpot INBOUND, Strategic Account Management Association’s Annual Conferences, Sales Leadership Conference, and Sales Operations Institute. In 2019, he was honored as a leading keynote speaker by Top Sales World.
Passionate about raising awareness of congenital heart defects (CHD) and organ donation, blogging at www.echoofhope.org, the American Heart Association (AHA) of Central Massachusetts honored Mike with the Heart of Gold Award in 2018.
Mike is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA with a B.A. in American Studies, and holds an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. He was an adjunct professor at both schools, teaching courses in marketing and sales.
You can download his free white papers, guides, and eBooks at www.raingroup.com/resources and watch his videos at www.youtube.com/raingroup. Follow Mike on Twitter at @Mike_Schultz and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mikeschultz50/
In addition to Rainmaking Conversations, his other top ranked sales books for sellers and sales leaders include:
• Professional Services Marketing (Wiley, 2013)
• Insight Selling (Wiley, 2014)
• Virtual Selling: How to Build Relationships, Differentiate, and Win Sales Remotely (2020)
•
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 27, 2016
The firsst half of the book, describing the sales cycle from the buyer perspective really give new perspectives on how to approach sales properly, the second half is really nothing new.
March 9, 2025
I was expecting more real-world examples of cases where insight selling was successfully applied along with the key takeaways from these business cases.
I also found the style repetitive. Only a handful of concepts are introduced to help the reader improve their sales methodology through insight selling. It could have been a much shorter book IMHO.
Despite the criticism, I would recommend reading the book if you are completely new to modern selling approaches that are taught in most consultancy companies. You would definitely learn something new out of this book.
I also found the style repetitive. Only a handful of concepts are introduced to help the reader improve their sales methodology through insight selling. It could have been a much shorter book IMHO.
Despite the criticism, I would recommend reading the book if you are completely new to modern selling approaches that are taught in most consultancy companies. You would definitely learn something new out of this book.
January 4, 2022
A good alternative to some of the traditional sales methodologies.
Insight selling rather than problem / solution selling has a bit more positivity about it and I felt it was an interesting advancement to the current Challenger Sale or classic solution selling.
The research on 'what winners do' versus second place was also useful.
Insight selling rather than problem / solution selling has a bit more positivity about it and I felt it was an interesting advancement to the current Challenger Sale or classic solution selling.
The research on 'what winners do' versus second place was also useful.
December 23, 2018
One of the few books on sales research, nice tips.
January 2, 2020
This is one of the best books on Selling that I have read... and I read a lot. As the name indicates, this book is filled with insight into the hows and whys of the selling process. Read it and you will be better for it.
July 3, 2014
Very old topic with a new look.What I liked about the book is It represents a relevant picture for sales forces from recruitment to execution.What I did not like is I did not get anything related with insight generation in the book
May 1, 2016
I don't find many technical business books all that engaging but I certainly find much value in this book.
This is one of those books that I will need to revisit many times to glean all the knowledge within it's pages.
if you are involved in selling I would highly recommend this book.
This is one of those books that I will need to revisit many times to glean all the knowledge within it's pages.
if you are involved in selling I would highly recommend this book.
November 5, 2014
I had to read this book for an MBA class. Like many business books, the main points could have been summarized in less than 10 pages.
May 27, 2015
the book fails to sell itself. I did look like a big publicity to sell their course and training
January 25, 2015
Very good content but could have been a 25 pager and just as effective.
July 22, 2016
It should not have taken me so long to finish this book. I just procrastinated. Really great book in understanding the buyer needs and empathizing with the companies you want to do business with.
September 7, 2015
Well structured and relevant thought process on how to differentiate yourself as a seller in today's competitive marketplace.
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May 17, 2016Location: PTI IRC
Accession no: DL028119
Accession no: DL028119
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews