The Sales MBA: How to Influence Corporate Buyers

by Douglas Cole

Overview

Contrary to many predictions, there is growing demand for highly skilled sales jobs in the modern economy. Whether you're a salesperson or a knowledge worker, knowing how to influence corporate buyers has become a critical skill. But most sales books tend to be narrow and prescriptive. They focus only on tactics and tools rather than principles and mindset that can re-define your approach. This is a different kind of sales book. In plain and direct language, the author shows what it means to become a Strategist, a Change Agent, and a Decision Architect. Referencing the most important research and a wide assortment of field experiences, The Sales MBA explains how companies compete, how organizations evolve, and how people decide. Whether you sell to companies or lead others who do, this book will strengthen your credibility as a trusted advisor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781988025896
Publisher:	Barlow Publishing
Publication date:	08/11/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Douglas Cole is a sales leader at LinkedIn, an advisor with start-up accelerators in North America, and a part-time university lecturer at The Rotman School of Management and The Schulich Executive Education Centre in Toronto. The Sales MBA: How to Influence Corporate Buyers is his first book.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents The Mindset Advantage 5 PART I: Becoming a Strategist 10 1 – Where do they play? How will they win? 11 2 – Who is their target customer? 17 3 – How does that customer see the world? 20 4 – How do they measure success? 26 5 – The Strategist in Action 31 Takeaways for the Strategist 34 PART II: Becoming a Change Agent 35 6 – Where is the energy? How can you feed it? 36 7 – Why do we change? 40 8 – What are their personal interests? 43 9 – Who are the key influencers? 45 10 – What is the context that counts? 48 11 – The Change Agent in Action 50 Takeaways for the Change Agent 54 PART III: Becoming a Decision Architect 56 12 – What’s most important? Why will they care? 57 13 – What constrains their perception? 59 14 – How can you speak to the subconscious? 65 15 – What creates a memory? 70 16 – Compared to what? 73 17 – What’s in a name? 78 18 – What will they lose? 81 19 – How do they see themselves? 84 20 – The Decision Architect in Action 88 Takeaways for the Decision Architect 92 PART IV: Widening our Lens 93 21 – The Tenets of Trust: Empathy, Capability, Authenticity 94 22 – The Convergence of Consulting and Sales 97 23 – The Laws of Life 100 Sales MBA Reading List 105 Acknowledgments 107 About the Author 108

Editorial Reviews

"The Sales MBA provides valuable, actionable recommendations. The examples provided are interesting and relevant. And Cole writes engaging prose that explains the research and its implications clearly. Read this book and increase your ability to increase sales and to be heard.” Frank Cespedes, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School, Author, Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing

“The Sales MBA is a must-read for anyone looking to hone their craft as a seller in today’s increasingly complex and evolving B2B sales environment. From theory to academia to research to practical examples, The Sales MBA will give you a crash course in digestible and impactful principles and ideas that will help you understand human psychology and business decision- making. Most essentially, it shows you how to be more effective as a partner to your customers – the key to success as a B2B seller.” Alyssa Merwin Henderson, Vice President, Global Sales Solutions, LinkedIn

“Other authors address this topic by giving you nothing more than a list of tips and pointers. Cole provides plenty of practical tactics, but he also helps you develop the habits of mind that are critical to success. After reading his book, you will know how to influence your customer’s decisions, steer your customer’s organization, and connect your offerings to your customer’s competitive strategy, all in the service of delivering value to your customer. Adopt this mindset, and the other elements of sales flow naturally from there.” John Beshears, Co-Chair, Behavioral Economics Executive Education Program Harvard Business School

“As someone who deeply values sales frameworks and processes, The Sales MBA helped me return to the first principles of sales success, think about the bigger picture, and expand my creativity. If you’re an enterprise seller or you lead teams of enterprise sellers, The Sales MBA is a must-read.” Diana Luu, Country Manager, LinkedIn Canada

“As an executive working in strategy and business development for twenty years, it’s refreshing to read Cole’s work on sales: jargon-free, practical, and grounded in strategic frameworks that can change your sales trajectory by getting a lot more out of your team and your clients. Cole’s focus on building trust by resetting client engagement around really understanding their strategy is a powerful core insight I’m applying with clients now.” David Knight Legg, Founding CEO, Invest Alberta

From the Publisher