Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship

This work is available as both a book, a set of 6 CDs and apparently as a single CD. I have both the book and the 6 CD set. I found the CDs to be absolutely fantastic. The book is a great reference after the CDs, but if I had read the book instead of the CDs, I would have lost out on a lot. When I read the book, it feels, well, typical. But when I listen to Mahan speak, it is riveting. I myself am considered a strong speaker, and am very critical of others abilities, so I do not say this lightly. The first CD is the hardest to listen to, but after that, it is GREAT. The CDs taught me how to go from a problem statement or solution idea and quantify how we will show success against that once we implement our idea. Many of you may have a technique already that can take you from a problem to a set of measures that can show improvement, but I did not. The funny thing is that I am not really into sales. Yet this book is one of my best tools in my kit. Not for sales, but for DEPLOYING solutions and managing complex projects. It's guidance is extremely useful in requirements management and scope management for any project imaginable. It helps the team show the customer we are interested in their success more than in their list of features, and to ensure that what we are building truly adds value. If you have ever experienced scope creep or requirements volatility, these CDs have techniques to help. I strongly recommend this CD set to anyone who needs to prove the value of a solution, especially if they don't yet have a technique to do so. As a final thought, here is a great story: A client had one of the CDs in her car which she had bought on my recommendation. Her husband borrowed the car and the CD came on. He was confused, but immediately found himself sucked in due to Mahan's excellent speaking ability. He got to work with all these ideas in his head and went to a high powered meeting (for which he was the ranking executive). He apparently used the techniques he had just learned and was able to solve some serious problems and close a huge deal that they'd been struggling with for days. When he got home he said to his wife, "what is that CD in your car?" Needless to say, he listened to the whole set too.

There are literally thousands of books on selling and most leave you with the feeling that you need to shower after you have read them. This one does not. Lets get real has a reality about it and a discussion of a simple process that reenforces all the things you knew about selling. The book hits the right blend of anedotal stories -- so you can see how it would apply to you and discussion of the process elements -- so you can figure out how to apply it yourself. This is no Zig Ziglar book -- this is something I want to conciously try to use every time.The book is very clearly written and highly usable, breaking each aspect of the approach into small digestable chunks. Its something you can read and more importantly re-read/refresh yourself easily.There is one limitation of the book. It seems to be geared more toward longer multiple call sales cycles, rather than transaction selling. At least that is the way I read it. I could not see my local car dealer selling this way -- although I wish they would. This book is one that is going into my frequently read shelf. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to build commercial relationship with a client.

Want to know how to sell? You've got to sell value. That's the gist of the book. Determining what's of value to your client and how to provide a solution that meets this value criteria is what this book is all about. If you ever had any client facing role (you might be a consultant, or you might be a store clerk or a sales person of any kind) you will benefit greatly from reading this book. I loved Mahan's approach of first getting down to the major issues or opportunities, finding out their symptoms and solution benefits and then formulating a solution.Though I don't directly sell, as an Internet professional I am constantly in front of clients, recommending solutions. I find this material invaluable as a means of eliciting client participation during the solutions process.The book looks thick, but that's because of the paper. A very easy read. A great book to buy and keep.

I have listened again and again to Khalsa's tapes. Not only are the principles and techniques useful (no guessing, stop at yellow lights, how to get to the heart of the matter), you really feel like he's talking one on one to you, not just reading the book out loud. I'm buying extra copies for my sales team.

I have worked with Mahan for many years and funded some of his early work in teaching others the magic of his process. We used the concepts covered in this book to teach our professionals how to elicit customer input on needs, etc. The consulting group grew rapidly and now employs over 5000 professionals. Quite a testimony to Mahan's incredible teaching ability and the concepts covered in this book!-