Book & Product Reviews

Several weeks ago, I received a request to review a sales skills training book on Action Selling. And by some miracle the book arrived about 3 days later by regular mail. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to sit down to read it until now… and I regret that I did not read it earlier.  Reading this book has helped me to improve my sales skills.

After reading Marketing With Meaning yesterday, I have to say that this was one of the nicest requests for a book review I have received. The request was natural, not pushy.  It gave me clear insights into why this review would interest my readers. In addition, the book looked interesting.  It was easy to say “yes”.

There were actually 2 books in the mail… I’ll explain later. But what I want to share with you is that I devoured the first book in a short afternoon last weekend. And did not have a chance to read the second book all week.  It has been a long wait.  The funny thing is that I have not looked forward to reading a book since the last Harry Potter came out… and this is a sales book!

Two Sales Books…

Here are the two sales training books I read.  Both are by Duane Sparks:

Action Selling: How To Sell Like A Professional, Even If You Think You Are One

This is the first one. It explains:

• The Action Selling Process
• The 9 acts to the sales process
• The 5 buying decisions

Here’s the second book I read:

Sales Strategy from the Inside Out: How Complex Selling Really Works

This is the most recent book and it shows you how the Action Selling process works in a complex B2B sales process.

These are both small books, about 70 pages or so and are quick reads.

There Are Five Books In The Series

These two books are actually part of a sales skills training series. These are the three other books I did not read.

• Selling Your Price: How to Escape the Race To The Bargain Basement
• Questions: The Answers to Sales
• Masters of Loyalty: How To Turn Your Sales Force Into A Loyalty Force

They come between the two books I read.

Why I Like These Books

OK, now let me tell you why I devoured the first one, just could not wait to read the second one, and why I really like both of them.

Easy To Read

These books are stories.  They are not heavy “how to” reading with long explanations.  You learn about the sales process, and understand it because it is told in a real sales story.  The stories are short, they are only about the sales process.  There is no long novel with lengthy character development.   There  are only enough details for you to pick up the Action Selling process quickly and easily.

The first book, Action Selling, explains the process in a simple story.  The second book, Sales Strategy, shows you how Action Selling works in a B2B environment when times are difficult.

Simple Process

I like simple sales strategies.  As I read the two books, I saw parts of the Action Selling Process that I had already used in my own international sales process.  But I felt that reviewing the Action Selling Process could strengthen what I am already doing.

This Action Selling Process is easy to pick up . It gives you a good framework to prepare a sales strategy for your clients.  It’s not a complicated system.  It only takes a couple of hours at most to read the book.  Then you can immediately use the laminated card at the back of the book, and research and plan for your next client call.  The story shows you what to do.

I still have to try this out in cross-cultural selling, but the Action Selling Process appears to be easy to adapt for international sales too.

Solid Sales Best Practices

The Action Selling Process did not come out of Duane Sparks’ imagination.  He based it on proven strategies that have been around since the early 1900′s… and improved ever since.

I don’t know what kind of sales environment you work in, but the mistakes outlined in these books are common ones in international sales:

• Selling before establishing and agreeing on the client’s needs
• Selling the product before selling the salesperson

These two mistakes undermine all of efforts to build trust and credibility, which is crucial in cross-cultural selling.

Get A Strong Basic Sales Strategy

In cross-cultural selling you have to adapt to the culture of your client. This is can be overwhelming.  I have often seen colleagues around me get bogged down dealing with cross-cultural differences… and in the process they:

• Forget their sales strategy
• Find that their sales strategy is not suitable for this culture, or do not know how to adapt it
• Fall back to easy networking tactics that lack the sharp sales focus needed in today’s economy

I like starting with a simple, solid sales strategy based on universal business practices… and then adapt tactics to this strategy as needed.

Action Selling has inspired me to review this with my own cross-cultural sales skills…  I will read the 3 other books too.

What Are You Doing To Improve Your Sales Strategies?

Today businesses need to regularly review their sales strategies.  The economy is different.  Competition changes.  There is almost always room for improvement.

Do you have a few hours to read a good story? It might be all you need to start strengthening your sales strategy.

Action Selling provides sales skills training for a simple process for a good sales strategy. It gives you a framework to stay focused on the work you need to do to be competitive in sales.

There is nothing I would change.  Nothing I find missing.

This book reminded me of my resolution when I first started writing book reviews: to only write reviews about things I really like and highly recommend to close friends.

Why?

For things I don’t like – why spend my time giving publicity to things I do not like, even if it’s negative.

For mediocre things – there are more enjoyable ways to spend my time.

Thank you for an inspiring book!

Read more Book Reviews:

Communication For International Sales

Here are reviews of the books I have read recently to help me with communication for international sales:

• A Writer’s Guide To Powerful Paragraphs By Victor C. Pellegrino
• Content Rich By Jon Wuebben
• Get Content Get Customers by Joe Pulizzi & Newt Barrett
• Letting Go Of The Words – Writing Web Content That Works By Janice Redish
• Stories That Sell By Casey Hibbard
• The Culturally Customized Web Site By Nitish Singh And Arun Pereira
• The Magic Of Pre-Writing By Steven Osborne
• The Secret To Writing A Successful And Outstanding Blog By Liz Strauss

International Sales

Here are reviews of the books I have read recently to help me with international sales:

• All of the Little Sales Books by Jeffrey Gitomer
• Asinine Advertising By Herschell Gordon Lewis
• Influencer: The Power To Change Anything by Kerry Patterson – Joseph Grenny – David Maxfield – Ron McMillian & Al Switzler
• Sales Strategy From The Inside Out By Duane Sparks

International Web Marketing

Here are reviews of the books I have read recently to help me with international web marketing:

• Bit Literacy Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload By Mark Hurst
• Dotcomology The Science Of Making Money Online By Stone Evans
• How The Internet Works By Preston Gralla
• How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders By Catherine Seda
• Landing Page Optimization By Tim Ash
• Mastering Online Marketing By Mitch Meyerson
• Multichannel Marketing By Akin Arikan
• Online Competitive Intelligence By Helen P. Burwell
• ProBlogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
• Stats Faceslap By Ed Rivis
• The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy By Ed Rivis
• Website Optimization by Andrew B. King

Here are some Product Reviews:

• Ed Rivis’ Stats Faceslap
• Success Chef’s Marketing E.S.P.
• The Management Tools I Use For Content Created To Be Re-Packaged
• The Ultimate Desktop Copy Coach By Tony Flores
  
• Web Video University And International Marketing
  

All of the book and product reviews here are totally unsolicited… spontaneous …and without affiliate links. These are books I have read recently and only the ones that I share with friends. So all of the reviews you find here are on books and products that I highly recommend.

Also, as these are books and products that I have recently read since, this is not a list of my all-time favorite books. Hopefully I will get around to reviewing my favorite culture and international business books sometime soon.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Sales Strategy From The Inside Out By Duane Sparks

Improve Your International Sales Skills

In a slow economy, businesses are even more focused on sales.  They explore all avenues to maintain and improve sales.

When business is slow business turn to basics.

Sales Skills

Sales professionals get more focused attention.  Executives pay even more attention to what their salespeople are doing:

• What are they doing each day to get new prospects?
• What are they doing to get closer to making the sale?
• How are they performing compared to their competitors?

And many businesses also look at the sales skills of their salespeople.

• They want to have the best salespeople on their own team.
• They want to give their salespeople the best sales training to maintain a competitive edge

New Markets

Businesses also look for ways to develop their markets. In addition to maintaining sales in their current market, businesses also look for:

• Different ways to sell their product
• Different places to sell their product

And this includes international markets.

International Sales Skills

It is then natural to look at improving your company’s international sales skills. International sales skills help you open new foreign markets.  You can sell your products:

• Where the economy is better.
• Where the exchange rate is in your favor
• Where the market has wider opportunities

There is one small hitch: international sales skills include cross-cultural communication skills.

Acquiring cross-cultural communication skills is a personal endeavor.  It involves experience and personal commitment.

Go Beyond Your Competition

Competition can be fierce in a bad economy.

• Many businesses provide similar sales training to their salespeople.
• They will also have similar ideas about what markets to develop.
• And they will also probably come up with similar strategies.

But there are very few companies that will take the time and personal commitment to improve their international sales skills.

• Isn’t this a wonderful opportunity for the companies that do make this effort?

Looking Inward

When you look at the points above you will notice a trend.  All of these questions look inward.

In tough times, do you think it is the companies that address these issues at this level that will succeed?

Gain A Distinct Competitive Advantage In Tough Times

I have a long history in sales and marketing on very low to non-existent budgets.  It is not quite the same thing as slow economies.  But you do learn to be resourceful.  And the one key to success that I noticed was that it depends more on how you react than anything else.  You need to:

• Keep a level head
• Do not let the environment get you down
• Be like a hawk when looking for the opportunities others are missing
• Act immediately

This is why I think companies today should invest in developing international sales skills.

More On Improve Your International Sales Skills:

• Basic Skills You Need To Stand Out Today
• Do Not Give Up Too Soon On Your International Business
• Do You Have A Clear Vision Of How To Get International Sales?
• Do You Know The Real Questions Your International Clients Are Asking?
• Emotion Buttons For International Sales
• How Good People Skills Also Grow Your International Business
• Improve Your International Sales Skills For Your Competitive Advantage
• Learning International Skills From A Course Or A Book
• The Multiple Facets Of International Sales Preparation

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Discover Your International Business
• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cross-Cultural Negotiation
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Improve Your International Sales Skills For Your Competitive Advantage

International Sales Professions

My recent article on the definition of an International Sales Specialist raised a few questions on what makes a good international sales specialist.

Broad Base Of International Skills

First, I have to say that I distinguish different levels of international skills. The experts are easy to identify.  They always remain professional no matter where they are.

Their experience in multiple cultures is almost palpable.

• They do not get unnerved easily.
• They do not need guidance often in adapting to new cultures.
• If they need to ask a question it sounds like a question from another native and not a foreigner.

Here is something interesting…

All of the people I have met with expert international skills have been more quiet in nature.  They do not boast about their experience.  They have a certain humility about them.

Their quietness is a distinct contrast to the “international experts” with “expertise” in a small number of different cultural environments or regions.

International skills cover a broad range of interpersonal skills that help you adapt to different business environments.

Ability To Adapt To Different Cultures

Now, there are some people who do acquire international skills but do not adapt to different cultures well.

For example, these are people who live in a foreign country, but do not make the effort to understand and meet the other culture.

In addition to international skills, you need to be able to adjust yourself personally to different cultures.

Solid Basic Sales Skills

This is fairly obvious.  To be a good international sales specialist you need good basic sales skills.  And a strong broad base of basic skills will get you further than specialized sales skills.

In cross-cultural communication you usually need to simplify both what you say and how you say it.

Clear Vision Of Business Strategy

And this leads into needing a clear vision of your business strategy and an ability to quickly identify your clients business strategy.

The reason for this is again due to cross-cultural communication differences, your communication needs to clear and consistent.  And you can only communicate clearly and consistently and make international sales, when you have a very clear vision of the business strategies of both parties.

This is also the best way to navigate different business practices.  When you have good basic sales skills and the ability to see the whole picture, you will see how to get where you want to go.

Success Comes With Experience

In summary, a good international sales specialist needs

• Strong international skills
• The ability to adapt to different cultures

Both of these, should be acquired through experience with different cultural groups in different regions.  Diversity broadens these personal skills.

In addition, a good international sales specialist also needs these professional skills:

• Solid basic sales skills
• Clear vision of business strategy

There are different levels of expertise in all of these skills.  And the ability to adapt to a wide variety of cultures often depends on the person’s personal development in cross-cultural skills.

What about you?

• Do you have any specific questions related to international sales professions?
• Do you have any other insights to share?
• What do you like about international sales jobs?

Please leave your comments below.

More on International Sales Professions:

• 12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder
• The Job Of An International Sales Specialist
• What Is An International Business Development Executive?
• What Is An International Sales Specialist?

Get International Clients – Business Guides On Sales

• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cross-Cultural Negotiation

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

What Makes A Good International Sales Specialist

International Sales Professions

Another useful question that came up recently here on CindyKing.biz.  Definitions are always helpful to broad English speaking audiences.

So, without looking at a dictionary, here is my definition of an international sales specialist.

An international sales specialist is obviously a seasoned sales professional…with a specialty.

Most sales specialists qualify their specialty.

My specialty is in international sales.

So how can you become an international sales specialist?

In The Field International Sales

This is a skill you can only acquire through experience in the field.  And you also need a wide experience in international sales.

You can acquire international sales experience through:

• International sales based in your home country without travel.
• International sales based in your home country and traveling to see clients in other countries.
• International sales based in a foreign country.
• International sales based in a foreign country and traveling to see clients in other countries.

International sales based in your home country, and without international travel, will not usually give you enough exposure to become an international sales specialist.

Obviously you can expect to develop more international sales skills faster when based in a foreign country and traveling to sell to clients in other foreign countries.

There are also a few other factors you need to develop a specialty in international sales:

Time Spent In International Sales

The amount of time you spend in international sales has a direct result on how good your skills are.  The trouble is that the amount of time needed varies.  There is no magical formula.  It all depends on you.  Do you adapt to other cultures faster than others?  Or do you need more time?

For example, you can assume that a person who spends 2 years abroad in international sales and then returns to his home country will not be as skilled as someone who spends 4 years abroad.  But this is not always the case.  And I have encountered many people who live abroad for many years, work in international sales, and do not really make an effort to improve their international sales skills.

Cross-Cultural Empathy

I am sure you have encountered people who appear to have more “natural” sales abilities than others.  In international sales you can also come across people who seem to have a “natural” ability.

These people usually have good cross-cultural empathy.  They can relate to different cultures more than others.  And they are usually better at international sales than others.

Cross-cultural empathy makes it easier to create trust in different cultures.  Trust is essential to international sales.

More International Sales

Of course, an international sales specialist can increase your international sales.  But this level of expertise is usually put to good use in high profile sales and to gain intelligence for international business development.

Most companies with high profile international sales often look for the best skills out there.  There is too much at stake.

International sales specialists bring added value to businesses just opening new foreign markets. They can identify key marketing and positioning strategies for new markets.  They learn how to find the best offer for new markets.

When developing new markets an international sales specialist always works closely with the company’s top executives in Marketing and Business Development.  The information in from the new foreign markets will often define international business and marketing strategies.

My Journey To Become An International Sales Specialist

This is how I have become an international sales specialist.  Over 25 years field experience in international sales, marketing and business development, within both European start-ups and large American multi-nationals.

It all started with learning one language in a foreign country…and being so keen on cross-cultural empathy that I went too far.

Taking cultural empathy too far leads to a road of personal discovery.

This road to personal discovery, while living in a foreign country, speaking in a foreign language and working in an international environment, allows you to develop strong cross-cultural skills.

Strong cross-cultural skills together with international sales and marketing teaches you:

• How to go about identifying the best international business offers, even to open new foreign markets.
• How to resolve the most difficult cross-cultural business issues.

What about you?

• Do you have any specific questions related to international sales professions?
• Do you have any other insights to share?
• What do you like about international sales jobs?

Please leave your comments below.

More on International Sales Professions:

• 12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder
• The Job Of An International Sales Specialist
• What Is An International Business Development Executive?
• What Makes A Good International Sales Specialist

Get International Clients – Business Guides On Sales

• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cross-Cultural Negotiation

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

What Is An International Sales Specialist?