Selling to the VP of NO

by Dave Gray

He might be your sales prospect, your boss, an investor, or the chairman of the board. He is also one tough dude.
He has to be. Every hour of every day, someone tries to sell him something. He has one way to deal with them: Say "NO." It’s brutally simple, but it works, because most people are simply a waste of his time.

Selling Stars know how to break through that tough exterior and get the VP of NO to listen to their story. In this short, visual book, you will learn the secrets of the Selling Stars: how to turn the VP of NO into the VP of GO!

Genres: Business, Art Design, Nonfiction

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Yana Kiselyova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorites:

4 selling star principles:

1. Think like a buyer: you just met, and suddenly you are an expert in his business, telling him he’s an idiot.

2. Listen to learn (diagnose before you prescribe)

3. Opening (to get him thinking, to provoke thought, make a person feel understood) and closing (from thinking mode into doing mode). People are ready to act when they have convinced themselves that the action is appropriate, necessary, right and urgent – and that it must happen now.

4. Master the art of asking (ask “open questions” to provoke dialogue and “closed questions” to confirm your understanding or seek commitment)

Why should I care?

You must make him uncomfortable. His safe, secure, comfortable position needs to start feeling less safe.

WHODO

WHO you are talking to, and
What you want him to DO.

There is only one way to get his attention: you must make him uncomfortable.

Taking action involves risk, but inaction is also risky business.

1. Define the comfort zone

2. Find the pain.
Satisfied, comfortable people don’t change their ways. They change when they have to, and not before.
Before contacting him, think about his situation.

3. 3 develop you pain questions:
1. Identifying questions – to find and prioritized issues
2. Developing questions – to understand issues
3. Impact questions
Use your questions to find, prioritized and amplify your prospect’s pains.

4. Develop a shared vision

Buyers don’t care about features until they understand the benefit.

NO is the comfort zone
Why should I care?
Identify and amplify the pain.

OW opens the door to new ideas
What’s in it for me?
Use benefits to develop shared vision.

WOW points the way
Why you and not somebody else?
Use features to block competitors

NOW gives reasons to buy
How do I get there from here?
Make it as simple as 123

HOW makes the future feel safe
Can I trust you?
Turn objections on their head

GO

[Kathryn Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick read, this book is great for introducing basic techniques for selling an idea. I appreciate the free worksheet included to help prepare for discussions, and the illustrations throughout. My only complaint is that the selling "star" would be less visually confusing if it were presented as one-directional flowchart.

[Richard Mulholland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arb.

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Update: this surprises me, because I'm a huge Dave Gray fan - perhaps I'm simply not the audience for this book.

[Rebecca Noran · Rating 4 out of 5]

memorable, simple approach to present good advice on getting people to do what you want. super quick read, lots of pictures and mnemonic devices. now, to make it work.

[Tommy Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read. Great primer of the core principals of how to progress through a complex sales process. Laid out in layman's terms.

[Lori Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book on sales and selling techniques for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little visual primer on the stages of selling and mindset for sales.