A Seat at the Table: How Top Salespeople Connect and Drive Decisions at the Executive Level

Does it make sense to use the same selling strategies with executives that you would use on a manager? Marc Miller (Selling is Dead) makes a compelling argument against it in his new book "A Seat at the Table." The target audience for the book is salespeople who offer complex solutions, which could apply to those who sell consulting, information technology, and other services that may have a long and complex selling cycle. The question is, does the book offer something original? Or is it the same recycled ideas that a billion other authors who happen to own consulting firms put on paper? The answer may surprise you. There are quite a few key points in "A Seat at the Table" that makes this book genius. Among them are Miller's teachings on how to be viewed as a caring consultant and not just a seller, how he teaches sellers to add value to a prospect's current strategy instead of using tactical selling to sell something the prospect may not even need, and his line of questioning with the acronym FOCAS (Fact, Objective, Concern, Anchor, and Solution questions) that helps you identify pains and connect them to the prospect's strategies and your solutions. A case study includes a look at how Proctor & Gamble became more than just a seller to Wal-Mart and was offered a seat at their executive board meetings to offer real value in regards to other key strategic objectives. There are a few downsides though. For starters, it takes for granted that buyers are not clever enough to know that salespeople calling themselves consultants are still there to sell, regardless of how well they can align their products or services to the buyers' strategies. The book also instructs readers to stop asking pain questions yet the Concern portion of FOCAS seems to do just that. Finally, it would be nice if the author included sections on how to get a foot in the door and how to deal with price objections once solutions are presented. The bottom line is this: "A Seat at the Table" distinguishes itself from a lot of the noise and reworded sales books you find on shelves today. Much like he did with "Selling is Dead," Miller has once again proven himself to be a thought leader and strategic thinker in the industry. Sales managers and executives should not only buy this book for their staffs but should seriously consider working with the author's firm if they are searching for a better way to connect to executives when selling complex solutions. Highly Recommended Reviewed by Emanuel Carpenter Author of "Dead Guys Don't Buy"

Marc had me turning pages faster than I could read. Each philosophical sales concept and the language Marc chose to describe his ideas were immediately engaging. I found myself literally shaking my head in agreement as Marc developed the importance of value in the selling process. His use of field studies to support his theories are great evidence of what creates a successful sales professional. If your position requires active participation with sales people, this book is a must read.

This book is outstanding - Marc Miller shares great stories and techniques to help salespeople get in front of top executives to have meaningful conversations about high-impact business issues. What I really like about this book is that information is conveyed in a very clear and understandable way. These are very actionable strategies that can easily be applied to drive better sales results. Given today's economy and the challenges we're all facing, this book comes at the perfect time!

Marc's book really gets you to think about how to make each interaction with a client or prospect more productive. Using his approach to developing a more effective questioning strategy and how to implement the new learning will help get results quicker.

Miller takes the complexity out of understanding customer strategy by delivering a model that allows the reader to easily understand how senior level leaders make decisions about resource spend. The premise is that senior executives make decisions on how and why to spend resources (money, people, executive attention, etc...) in four key areas; Innovation, Implementation, Optimization, and Outsourcing. In order to add value to your customer, you must understand their strategy. Strategy drives spend, and therefore if you understand how companies spend resources in these areas you will understand their strategy. Miller's strategy matrix is a simple and usable model that helps sellers better align their offerings to customer strategy. The language of senior executives is the language of strategy and the future, and Miller contends if you can speak this language you will earn a seat at the table. In addition, Miller revisits FOCAS methodology from his first book "Selling is Dead," as a means to execute an understanding of customer strategy. This methodology allows the user to differentiate themselves in three key areas; The Strategic not the Tactical, Building a Foundation of Trust not Pushing a Product or Service, and Future Opportunity not Today's Pain. Senior executives are facing enormous challenges and are looking for help, but these people don't take advice from salespeople. Sellers need to learn and practice new skills to transform into businesspeople who sell, and in doing so their focus moves from "Selling" to "Helping." Finally, Miller introduces an innovative technology that addresses the greatest challenge that all sales leaders face...Coaching sellers in real life situations. The Sogistics Smartpen allows a salesperson to capture a meeting allowing for the salesperson as well as the sales leader to generate feedback in an efficient manner. What differentiates this technology from any other recording device is that it allows the user to go to any point in the conversation just by touching the pen to a word on a page or clicking the mouse to any word once it's downloaded. This eliminates the need to fast-forward and rewind to the critical points of the conversation. In addition to the capture for reference and coaching purposes, the pen can be programmed and utilized in conjunction with "Cheat Sheets" that are created to help the sales person with anything they need to know from methodology to product information. This book is a must read for anyone in sales or sales leadership that is looking to differentiate themselves by delivering a different kind of value to their customers.