Unselling: the new customer experience

by Scott Stratten, Scott Stratten

UnSelling is about everything but the sell. We put all of our focus on the individual purchase transaction, while putting the rest of our business actions second. We've become blind to customer service, support, branding, experiences and even product quality. Sixty percent of a purchasing decision is made before a customer even contacts you. We have funnel vision, and it needs to stop.

Unselling is about the big picture: creating repeat customers, not one-time buyers. Create loyal clients that refer others, not faceless numbers. Becoming the go-to company for something, before they even need you.

You don't need social media, but you can be connecting with your clients socially. Your video doesn't have to be viral in front of a million people, just contagious in front of your specific market. Content, connection, engagement. It's time to separate from the pack of noise. It's time to UnSell.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Buisness, Leadership, Reference

234 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Bonnie Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Stratten & Kramer make a stellar super hero team. Their quest is to rid the world of traditional selling & push style marketing. This is a read that every CEO, marketer, writer, business person, employee, boss, or any other professional in the world today. Just... stop... selling... PLEASE! Talk to us online & off.

Thank you to my new super hero duo for making it a bit easier for people to understand that all we need to do in the online world is everything we do offline and remember to be awesome!

(More on this book to come over at http://bonniezink.com)

[Jennifer Rayment · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative,on point and charmingly funny. A book that I really believe could make a difference to companies everywhere. Fantastic pieces of advice being that if you create good products/services , don't be an asshole, hire competent people and treat them well -- you will succeed. Thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot and will be picking up copies of his other books. Some other random thoughts while I drink wine and type up this review. I have never heard Social Media described in terms of donuts, but damn, it totally makes sense. The Chapter about publishing was interesting as I now get the point of pre-orders in terms of placement on Bestsellers lists. Rather amazed that after working for Chapters for 5 years and book blogging for at least 8, I didn't understand this. I was a little disappointed of the mentions of Barnes and Noble and Amazon, but no mention of Indigo. Sent the book info to one of my favourite people, Jeremy -- and I hope it was interesting and helpful for him as well. There is also a chapter that compares Westjet and Air Canada. Westjet just hired me and the chapter made me feel that I chose the right company to apply for. Oh yeah and they mentioned Forty Creek, so I decided to try some and it was good. But umm I am a wine girl and not used to stronger liquor -- sorry honey for falling asleep while watching Quantico with you -- it wasn't me -- it was the whiskey.

Favourite Quotes/Passage

"Knowledge plus passion for product and/or service equals profit."

"Hire for passion and treat employees with value and respect - that way when you get what you pay for , you'll be getting awesome work, instead of a whole lot of nothing."

[Cody Faldyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his book Stratten provides the keys to unlocking the mysteries of successful customer service and debunks a lot of nonsense that other marketers and marketing books talk about. The goal of the book is to teach you the most effective form of selling, how to create loyal, recurring customers, how to overcome customer service failures, and where to focus your marketing efforts. You can read it straight through but it’s written in a way that you can also jump around whenever you want.

For your convenience, we had Scott Stratten on our podcast, The Entrepreneurs Library, to give a deep dive on Unselling. With Scott’s experience he gives amazing insight on how to master the art of long-lasting organic sales and marketing. If you would like to get a more in-depth look from the author himself check out episode 223 on the EL website or you can find the show on iTunes.

[Juan Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and entertaining book. The main theme of the book was to stop going through the traditional marketing and sales channels and start developing relationships. It is the relationships that make clients connect with your brand and become loyal supporters.
Social media is a great way to join the community. But you cannot just post, you have to engage the community and become a part of it.
Auto scheduled post suck since it does not make you part of the community.

In conclusion:
Build relationships. Stop just throwing up ads and sales pitches and connect with your customers.

He gives many examples of good communication and use of blogs, newsletters and social media and bad examples. It was a fast and enjoyable read.

GOLD
“Successful sales teams walk into a relationship with a prospect with a pre-disposition that the first priority is to bring our expertise and knowledge in helping clients make informed, well-thought-out decisions so that they can choose the very best solution.”

“Far too often, we also find that a core reason for a loss is that is wasn’t the right client and/or the right opportunity for the sales team to pursue.”

"Needing to pay for things hasn't changed, but the delivery methods have. Like giving money to a New Orleans bike taxi, here are some other industries that have changed: Publishing (textbooks, magazines, books): Content delivery is no longer about paper, and there are no used copies in the digital world. Encyclopedias: As a child I would spend hours reading the encyclopedia. Today we have Wikipedia—and endless ways to learn and seem like we know what we're talking about. I never need to forget a song lyric or a movie line. Telephones: Forty percent of all Americans now don't have a landline. The mobile phone is prolific. Travel: From bookings, to reviews, to accessing language translators and maps, the world is now right at our fingertips to explore. Sites such as Airbnb are changing where we stay; Yelp, where we eat; and Kayak, where we book. Real estate: House listings are no longer a realtor's asset. With sites such as Trulia, what else do you bring to the table? Charity and fund-raising: Indiegogo allows us to crowdfund ideas, SMS allows us to text donations, and we find new causes to support every day through social media. Capital raising: All it takes is a Kickstarter with a good idea and decent size audience to get a company going."

[Kylie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hardly know where to start with this. I had basically decided that I didn't like it after the first 3 chapters but I kept going anyway hoping to learn something.

For one, Scott is continuously trying to put in his own comments and humour in foot notes and it's very distracting and not at all worthy of being in a book.

Multiple chapters were just other people's blog posts and it's like, yeah okay, but could you offer at least some more in-depth commentary about them? Or while you're at it could you just turn your book into a blog because three page chapters are a waste of everyone's time. I don't want cute anecdotes I want analysis of why some things work and why some don't.

By the time I got to the last quarter of the book I started to reach chapters were I got my hopes up by the introduction paragraph but then the chapters had no real substance.

I can hardly remember any of the things even brought up in the book. There was a whole chapter about Air Canada versus WestJet and I can't even remember which one Scott loved in the end. But it doesn't matter because both of those air lines are trash, them being nice to one random person, or even to me, isn't enough to win me over to a company. There were so many "I love this brand cause they treated me nicely" stories and seriously a whole book of that isn't helping anyone.

All that to say I had nearly zero helpful take anyways from this book, it would be much better as a blog, or maybe a book called "customer success stories". Except that doesn't follow Scott's naming scheme so maybe "UnTerrible Experiences"

[Reffi Dhinar · Rating 5 out of 5]

MEMBANGUN MEREK SECARA MANUSIAWI

Saya membeli buku ini untuk belajar ilmu menjual lebih dalam karena penulisnya dikenal sebagai brand advisor untuk banyak lini bisnis ternama.

Yang saya dapatkan?
1. Cara membangun brand baik personal dan bisnis dengan humanis, bukan tools otomatis lewat robot.

2. Cara mengatasi blunder atas tulisan bodoh dan impulsif kita di medsos dengan tulus.

3. Mindfulness ketika memilih asupan digital dan studi kasusnya.

4. Analisis mengapa sebuah merek bisa mendapat penggemar fanatik, terlepas ada kesalahan yang menyinggung kolam bisnis lain.

[J U N · Rating 4 out of 5]

The service its not ends when you succeeded sold your product, there a lot of things you need to do to maintain a good relationship with your customer, so they will come back and become your loyal customer and recommend your products to their friends and family. Thats what i realize after read this book.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book I got for free, and put off reading a long time, simply because it was free, this was surprisingly good. Most of the advice has held up. Some things were possibly over simplified, but everything was easily digestible, and the core messages are important. Customers matter. Content matters.

[Anssi Koskinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ei oikein uponnut tämä kerronnan tyyli ja itse asioista ei pompannut mitään mullistavaa korville.

[Vicky Belladino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just another "marketing" book. Nothing new here

[B. AGHA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and creative approach.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook.

Nothing too special about this book. Most of the advice is pretty logical. Maybe it serves as a good reminder to focus on the customer experience - but that’s probably the most you’ll get out of it.

If you run a small business or work as a sales manager, then I’d recommend this book.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the case studies which were interesting, relevant and insightful. Some parts of the book need better proofreading and editing though.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched "Marketplace" Friday and the episode was about fake video testimonials: inside the world of fake reviews. A woman from outside Toronto hires herself out as a spokesperson (supposedly she's a financial planner, a customer, a nutrition, etc.) for many different videos providing fake online testimonials. The sales expert "Marketplace" consulted about this was Scott Stratten. He was interesting and they mentioned he is the author of a book (among others) called UnSelling so I thought I'd check it out.

I'm not a sales person but I think when you work for a company, regardless of your role, we are all sales people, not only promoting whatever the product or service is but also the customer experience and branding. So that's why I like reading books like this.

The book isn't about how to sell whatever your product or service is. It's focused on the after sale. It goes without saying that without new sales, companies couldn't survive. Many times companies work so hard to get the new client ... and then move on to focus on the next new client. They forget to focus on existing clients and letting them know they are important and that's what this book is about.

I liked the writing style. It is very conversational, casual and amusing and though I was reading his book rather than an audiobook, I could hear Scott's voice. He seems like he'd be a fun guy to sit down and talk with. There were many examples of what companies have done well with/for their customers and what companies haven't done so well. There are lots of links and I found myself going to them to learn more about the experiences Stratten talked about, some being his own.

I look forward to reading his other books and hope sometime to see one of his keynotes.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2017/02...

[Jill Furedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say...I don't feel like I came away from this book with any concrete new ideas. But it sure has plenty of real life anecdotes to provide inspiration and examples of what not to do. I got through it relatively quickly for a business book...it wasn't nearly as dry and repititive as many I've run across. I love his thought process on not scheduling social media posts, reacting to the positives as quickly as the negatives, and interacting rather than simply responding. Participating not just answering notifications and gunning for shares, likes, pins, and retweets. That is really tricky for larger corporations, so I can see how the smaller, freer, more flexible businesses can get an edge there on sincere interactions. I wish more companies got that viewpoint. I've unsubscribed from most business facebook pages because I don't care to clutter my feed by volunteering to get their ads daily. Just like they made us dread junk mail, then email spam, they soon crowd out the reason for participating in those platforms: to connect with people we care about. But small businesses that need support, or creative ones that offer fun or humorous content...those I'll stick with. They often have something interesting to say. I'd definitely recommend this book, and will check out his others as well.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unselling is an interesting one – most non-fiction marketing books have some personality to them, but none of them have as much as this. The two writers, who are “cohosts of not only The UnPodcast, but five children, two dogs and two cats”, have a natural playfulness which really comes through in the book.

The Unselling concept is all about adding value, and the idea that your goal shouldn’t be to sell to your customers – it should be to help them. By putting the individual needs of each of your customers first, you leave positive experiences that they remember and share with their friends.

It’s not exactly a groundbreaking idea, but you’d be surprised at how many people are bad at it. What is remarkable, though, are the breadth of tips and case studies that the authors manage to cram in, especially when you consider the relatively short overall length of it.

I’d definitely recommend this book if you work in either sales or marketing, as well as if you run a small business or if you’re otherwise self-employed. There’s a lot of information of value here that could apply to any industry, and so it’s kind of important if you don’t want to fall behind your competitors. Now I just need to check out their podcast!

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unselling by Scott and Alison is what a business book should be: easy to read yet so full of information and with lots of both anecdotes that make the lessons come alive and takeaways that you can apply to your life or business. Just reading this book will give you a far better understanding of how to improve your customer experience so that they return and bring others with them. It's a must read for anyone who has any contact with customers or clients, even if indirectly, which is all of us.

And I love their writing style and format so much, I've ordered two more of their books and look forward to reading them.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't quite a insanely funny as Unmarketing, but funny and informative nonetheless. Love the perspective he puts his readers in, humanizing a business world that is all too focused on numbers. I'm a fan! If you're in business to any extent at all, read it! There is value to be found within the pages.

[Dustan Woodhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and relevant storytelling. I generally limit my social media efforts to the few platforms I understand and have the time to monitor.

Loads of commons sense tips with stories about the sad lack of common sense too many companies display.

[Maryann Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fabulous book from Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer! Amusing and practical advice for every business and individual.