The Book

A key motivation to write this book was my desire to share my very real delight in ‘Building a Willing Buyer’  rather than ‘forcing through a sale’.  It changed my weary, stressed frown into a smile!

After years in sales I recognised that everything changed when the other person truly ‘wanted to buy’. So I focused on creating that desire – then turning the desire into an order or decision. It was so much easier and more pleasant than the old-school sales tactics I’d been taught – both for me, and for my buyer!  They often chose to return to me as a trusted adviser – to buy more – creating what I call ‘Sustainable Sales‘ – that’s also highly ethical.

Turning Selling into Buying^® (TSB) delivers sustainable skills, sustainable relationships and sustainable results

I used this new approach to build productive sales channels and productive sales teams. Former colleagues asked me to teach their sales teams when they saw how well it worked. At first, this was informal; but as an engineer, I soon ‘modelled’ the processes involved. I crafted a set of simple, progressive modules to teach people how to change selling pressure into a buying facilitation. These have been tested and proved by thousands of students in hundreds of classes, seminars and workshops. See what they’ve said here and here. This book leads you step-by-step through that same process.

The ‘Mystique’ of Sales

The word ‘Sales’ can create an image of a fast talking, confident salesman talking his prey into submission, selling hard, then ‘closing the deal’. This is reinforced by wild stories of top salesmen selling sand to Berbers or ice cream to Inuit. Some of us in sales are the most guilty of encouraging this mystique – through our attitudes and actions. As a result, far too many people are uneasy or have a mental block about ‘selling’ and sales. They’re afraid of some or all of the classic ‘sales fears’ – rejection, being too aggressive, and looking foolish.  At its worst, this can even become a phobia of engaging with any situation where an idea or service needs to be ‘sold’ – holding them back professionally and socially.

The ‘Secrets of Buying’

So here’s the thing — the very best sales people never were like that
The most successful and ethical influencers have always built a willing buyer
They’ve always engaged fully and created a two-way connection
The ‘the best of the best‘ will always:

• determine “What’s actually in it for this Buyer to buy from me?“
• recognise that the ‘Buying Process’ is shaped by the buyer – not the seller
• engage, explore and develop a Buyer’s needs, desires and financial drivers
• agree a relevant, cost-effective solution with a route to being bought – not ‘sold’

… anyone can sell – can sell well – and enjoy doing it

As I used the TSB techniques myself, and trained more and more people to use them, I realised these tools aren’t only great for selling ‘stuff’. They’re just as effective for selling ideas, for getting ‘buy-in’ to a vision or proposal, getting a job or promotion, or for managing a team. I also started coaching entrepreneurs who were raising capital from angel investors and venture funds – it worked there too. Probably the most satisfying was helping companies build and manage a distribution channel or partner. The change was dramatic!

Because the approach that’s taught in this book delivers confidence and frees up the user’s experience, creativity and enthusiasm, it’s also been applied outside of  ‘commercial sales’. Over the years, I’ve run workshops and taught seminars for entrepreneurs, retail staff, consultants, CEOs, engineers, students, marketeers, pre-sales techies and many others.

Turning Selling into Buying – The Book

Download Book Description

The book is like my seminars and workshops – it’s designed to satisfy the different learning and self-development styles of a wide range of individuals. If you apply everything in the book, the change will be dramatic. To help with that process, I’ve included lots of support material for you.