Response from: Randy (Check me out!)

Some Brief Background concerning this book: This book is the fourth in our series featuring the Action Selling Process by The Sales Board, Inc. The proven sales management process of Action Selling uses five critical selling skills within an easy to follow process that matches the customer's buying decisions. Since 1990, The Sales Board has trained over 300,000 salespeople from more than 2,500 organizations in the Action Selling process, helping them achieve top sales productivity. Action Selling salespeople: - Follow a research-proven sales process
- Create an unbeatable competitive advantage
- Gain stronger, longer-term relationships & commitments
- Consistently sell up to six times more than those without training
- Know how and when to use the following Five Critical Sales Skills:
· Buyer/Seller Relationship
· Sales Call Planning
· Questioning Skills
· Sales Presentation Skills
· Gaining Commitment Action Selling produces dramatic results http://www.thesalesboard.com
or call 1-800-232-3485

Response from: Sales Training (Check me out!)

The Five Critical Sales Skills of Action Selling The Buyer/Seller Relationship: 82% of Salespeople Fail to Differentiate. Action Selling salespeople learn how to join the elite sellers that truly understand that the differentiating factor is not price, value-added guarantees or promotional gimmicks but rather how to walk arm-in-arm with their customer as each of the five sequential buying decisions are being made. Sales Call Planning: 99% of Salespeople Fail to Set the Right Call Objectives. This is not surprising since over two-thirds of companies lack a formal sales process. Even fewer have a documented "Best Sales Practices." As companies and salespeople certify on this critical selling skill using the Action Selling Certification Program, they finally have a road map to follow. The entire sales process gains momentum. Salespeople win more business - at higher margins - while decreasing sell cycle time. Questioning Skills: 86% of Salespeople Ask the Wrong Questions. The question is the number one tool the salesperson has for managing sales calls. It's surprising how many salespeople are poor performers when it comes to asking the right questions. The Best Questions actually "Open" the sale and move the process toward gaining commitment. Presentation Skills: 86% of Salespeople Talk Too Much and Listen Too Little. Many sales are lost due to the lack of a procedure for how and when to present product capabilities. Many salespeople give “data-dump” presentations to potential customers with no knowledge of their real needs. Gaining Commitment: 62% of Salespeople Fail to Ask for Commitment. The principle mission of the salesperson is to Gain Commitment. That's the reason why companies value salespeople. So why would more than half of salespeople skip this? Some reasons include: • They don't set the right kind of objectives for sales calls.
• They miss buying signals from the customer.
• They lack a procedure for gaining commitment. Action Selling teaches salespeople how and when to use these sales skills to achieve maximum sales productivity. It begins by assessing your skills with the Action Selling Skills Assessment. The Assessment measures your knowledge and ability in using these 5 Critical Selling Skills and shows you areas to improve and how much income you will gain with improvement. Take the Free Assessement at http://www.thesalesboard.com.

Response from: Arthur Trueger (Check me out!)

There is no easy answer to this question. Customer retention is something companies should put more of an emphasis on, as the cost of acquiring new customers is significantly greater than attempting to increase wallet share of the current customer base.