I.T. Sales Boot Camp: Sure-Fire Techniques for Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Companies

Recently I had the opportunity to interview for a sale position with a much respected software company. A few days before the interview I had just finished reading I.T. Sales Boot Camp. The concept and fundamental ideals of selling in an I.T. arena that were taught and express in the book enabled me to land the job. I believe that the knowledge that I gain from I.T.Sales Boot Camp made the different in my interview.

This book does an excellent job in teaching the keys of IT sales. The author has worked for Novell and other big technology companies, and he reflects that with good examples of several sales situations during the negotiation phase. You should have this if you want to achieve million dollar quotas.There's also another book out there called "How To Sell Technology" by a guy called DiModico. It's ok for people with no experience in sales that want explanations of the basic sales processes, people types and all that stuff. Best wishes for your sales careers.

Brian Giese provides a refreshing and practical framework to approach selling from both a strategic and tactical point of view. I was pleasantly surprised at this books content given its name I.T. Sales Boot Camp but, like a general, a salesperson must first master the art of planning his/her forces before being able to approach a customer or prospect effectively. Giese rightly recommends that his audience thinks about his ten key elements to consider in a complex selling. The ten elements are the following: mapping the battleground, assembling a pursuit team, preparing for the attach, getting to the CXO, creating value, questioning, proposal writing, competition, account management, and channel sales. Although the reader may first consider this process a chore, they will derive a lot of value from it by internalizing the author's framework. Giese correctly reminds his audience that the salesperson needs to have a broad understanding of his/her competition. Competition includes not only direct competitive offerings, but also customer/prospect's options such as doing nothing, in sourcing, or resources reallocation for other purpose. Furthermore, Giese recommends that his audience adopt a strategy of focusing first on customer/prospect's "wants" and not on a narrowly defined competition. With a little bit of practice, the framework described above may become second nature and allow the audience to eventually use it in a multitude of settings. For example, applying for a job is often similar to complex selling. The job seeker needs to make a mutually beneficial value proposition not only to the hiring manager(s), but also to the assistant (s), the receptionist and any other relevant persons who can make a difference in hiring him/her or not. Similarly, a software salesperson could use the above-mentioned framework to organize and deploy sales resources within his/her organization.

I love this book. My career history includes selling both consulting services and CRM software. Amazingly this book has a methodology that works for both. I have held different roles as project/practice leader, account manager and presales technical support. Giese's positioning techniques apply for each of these roles. I seriously thought about not reviewing this book in fear that my competitors would begin to apply these practices, but it is too good of a book not to share. So share I will. This book tells it like it is and then some. Get it, read it and then read it again.

I love this book. My career history includes selling both consulting services and CRM software. Amazingly Giese's book has a methodology that works for both. I have held different roles as practice leader, account manager and presales consultant. His positioning techniques apply for each of these roles. I thought about not reviewing this in fear that my competitors would begin to apply these practices, but it is too good of a book not to share. Read it, and then read it again.