Book Review: Selling to the Point

Sorry, sales.  The buyer is in charge now. Jeffrey Lipsius uses simple storytelling in his book, Selling to the Point, to explain why the buyer is now in charge of sales.  It’s a big concept that Jeff has explained through storytelling that makes it easy to grasp and relatable.

That’s not to mean that sales no longer has to sell.  They need to help the customer buy.  Wait.  Isn’t that the same thing, the reader might ask. Through the characters in the story we learn that it’s not the same thing at all.  The new way of selling is about putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and understanding their needs. Jeff has developed 10 new laws of selling that are focused on providing the customer the buying points they need to make the best buying decision.  In traditional selling the sales rep relies on external factors to push the sales, whereas in the new selling, it’s about the buyer having internal confidence, internal choice, and internal clarity.  A desired outcome of a decision made with a higher level confidence is that the solution will be better utilized, and more likely to be reordered or renewed.  Though Jeff’s examples are more product oriented, this would be relevant for today’s SaaS solutions that carry a high risk of churn if not fully embraced.

One of the things I liked was that one of the characters learned that this “selling” approach could to be applied to his family and his social life.  Understanding what others need and letting them arrive at the right choice is something anyone can use in their life.

I recommend Selling to the Point for B2B inside and field sales folks who are selling products to purchasing reps or SaaS to mid-level buyers.

Title: Selling to the Point

Author: Jeffrey Lipsius

Print Length: 184 pages

Publisher: Rydal Road Publishing

Publication Date: March 9, 2016

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Language: English

ASIN: B01CRSJ2NI

Available on Amazon.