Accelerants: Twelve Strategies to Sell Faster, Close Deals Faster, and Grow Your Business Faster

I had the opportunity to attend a small group setting with the author - all I can say is 'WOW!" His summary of only two points from his 12 possible processes was impressive - if you get the chance to interact or with Michael Boylan you will not be disappointed! I will definitely purchase his other two books based upon reading this one and his in-person presentation - This book is not recommended for corporate culture types - you will be scared away - frankly the rest will appreciate the business you leave behind! :-)

This book builds upon "The Power to Get In" very nicely and summarizes that book in Accelerant #5 (Access the Castle). If you had to pick one book or the other, go with this one as this chapter alone is worth the price of both books. There are a ton of sales books on the market today, but a limited number really outline an actionable system to produce consistently at a high level. I strongly recommend this book to anyone thinking of getting involved or already involved with selling products, services, or ideas to other businesses. Executives would benefit themselves by reading it too as there is a lot to be learned about why your sales organization doesn't consistently grow revenues or meet their targets on a regular basis. In the investment arena, the information and processes contained in Accelerants could be the difference in meeting (or exceeding) analysts' and customer expectations.

Mr. Boylan insights about how to close sales faster are astounding. He shows you how to create deeper stronger relationships with the senior executives in your prospects that takes you down a straight forward path insuring they clearly understand your companies' key deliverables. His approach turns upside down some of the old tried and true principles of sales 101. This book really digs into the psychology of the sale and shows you simple tools to win bigger deals faster in a style of respect and integrity. Accelerants provides a clear step by step analysis of how to sharpen your sales and marketing effectiveness in an increasingly competitive landscape. I found a number of things I could do to help understand my prospects better and close some opportunities that were "stuck" before I finished the book. The principles are simple common sense that have eluded many of us in our traditional PSS tools that try's to get customers to tell us where they have pain. His step by step approach of understanding the basic buying needs and personalities of prospects is so logical they will clearly compress the sales cycle. How could some of these ideas and solid strategies eluded us for so long before being put in print?

I do not know Mr. Boylan personally, but the concepts and ideas that thus far have made up the body of his work: (The Power To Get In, TEETH - Does Your Value Proposition Have Any?, and most recently Accelerants) have left a lasting impression on me and I have worked hard to incorporate his very practical advice into my daily business dealings as a sales professional. In fact, I attribute fifty percent of my annual income to following specific steps laid out by Mr. Boylan in his books. If you take your organization's sales approach seriously - and unfortunately not everyone does - I would highly recommend that you consider implementing his no-nonsense methodologies into your sales framework. For those who cannot afford his organization's custom training options, Mr. Boylan has in my opinion given more practical, tangible value in his books than almost any other sales author in print, BUT you'll need to roll up your sleeves and do the following work: Assess Your Status, Design Your Future, Charter Your Course, Metric The Message, Access The Castle, Deliver The Ultimate Presentation, Paint the Financial Picture, Hold Your Ground, Conduct the Concert, Harmonize for Gold, Calibrate for Success, and Complete the Circle of Integration. Jack Welch once said that the key to business success is understanding the difference between what's going on and what we wish/think/hope is going on. Mr. Boylan knows what's going on when it comes to complex strategic sales. It's up to the reader to put his principles to the test and not only profit from them but to morally and ethically be a more solid corporate citizen by being a good steward of others time.

The Five Star rating correctly indicates my opinion of the importance of this book's subject and of the quality of its content. However, I wish at least a few reader-friendly "accelerants" had been utilized to facilitate and expedite periodic reviews of key points after the book has been read. It takes too much effort to locate all of Michael Boylan's "12 strategies to sell faster, close deals faster + grow [a] business better," except as they are listed in the Table of Contents. Also, several of the illustrations (e.g. "The Constant Continuum" on page 6 and "The Twelve ACCERANT Principles" on page 7) are almost unreadable. Moreover, I think Boylan overplays his hand when inserting frequent self-serving references to what he and his management consulting firm (Accelerant International) offer. Those who are favorably impressed can certainly track him down him at the Web site address provided. Presumably a number of readers will. Boylan's previous book, The Power to Get In, was written for those who have serious problems with gaining access to others of special importance to them. In it, he offers a cohesive and comprehensive system to overcome all manner of barriers. This system creates what he calls "The Circle of Leverage." Obviously, the strategies and tactics in this book can be very helpful to those in sales but if we expand our perspective to include other forms of persuasion, his book offers even greater value. For example, consider the potential relevance of the Circle of Leverage System to recruiting and hiring, M & A initiatives, competing with others in the same organization for its resources, use of customers as an extended sales force, use of "alumni" to locate talent, etc. In his newest book, Boylan explains how to expedite this process of cultivation, penetration, and solicitation. He identifies twelve strategies that he characterizes as "accelerants." I strongly recommend that both books be read, despite some repetition of key points, because it is even more important now than ever before to accelerate the process by which to complete research on prospective buyers of whatever is offered for sale, select those with high-probability purchase potential, initiative cultivation and solicitation of each, and hopefully close on the sale. The information and counsel that Boylan provides in his two books, especially in Accelerants - will be invaluable to that process.