Table Of ContentCustomerCentric Selling
This page intentionally left blank
CustomerCentric Selling
Michael T. Bosworth
John R. Holland
McGraw-Hill
New York Chicago San Francisco
Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan
New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore
Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2004 by McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permit-
ted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
0-07-150197-5
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-142545-4.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of
a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no inten-
tion of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial
caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in
corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at
[email protected] or (212) 904-4069.
TERMS OF USE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in
and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the
right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, mod-
ify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part
of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other
use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.
THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WAR-
RANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED
FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE
WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions con-
tained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-
Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the
work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information
accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, inci-
dental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if
any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or
cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.
DOI: 10.1036/0071425454
Professional
Want to learn more?
We hope you enjoy this
McGraw-Hill eBook! If
you’d like more information about this book,
its author, or related books and websites,
please click here.
To my wife, Linda, who tolerates my passion for work and keeps things run-
ning smoothly during my frequent travels. To my children, Lauren, Johnny, and
Katie, who are a constant source of pride and joy. With special thanks to my
parents, John and Mary.
John R. Holland
To my inner circle—Alicia, Brendan, Brian, Steve, Sam, Dick, Dave, Susan,
Rosy, Ricki, Patti, and Suzanne—who keep me grounded, validated, and appre-
ciated. To my uncle, Jack Lester, who is my model for living life with a positive
mental attitude.
Michael T. Bosworth
This page intentionally left blank
For more information about this title, click here
Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter 1 What Is Customer-Centric Selling? 1
What Is Customer-Centric Behavior? 2
Even the “Naturals” Can Improve 8
Chapter 2 Opinions—The Fuel That Drives Corporations 11
Who’s Responsible for What? 12
Hiring and Training: Where Selling Begins 14
Positioning: The Next Challenge 17
Why Not Lead with Features? 18
Opinions: Right and Wrong 20
Turning Opinions into a Forecast 22
Aiming for Best Practices 26
Chapter 3 Success without Sales-Ready Messaging 29
Understanding the Early Market 29
Understanding Mainstream-Market Buyers 33
Crossing the Chasm 35
Postchasm Sellers 36
Winging It 38
What about the Naturals? 38
Punished for Success 40
vii
viii CONTENTS
A Changing Context 42
The 72 Percent Zone 43
Chapter 4 Core Concepts of CustomerCentric Selling 47
You Get Delegated to the People You Sound Like 49
Take the Time to Diagnose before You Offer a Prescription 50
People Buy from People Who Are Sincere and Competent, 50
and Who Empower Them
Don’t Give without Getting 51
You Can’t Sell to Someone Who Can’t Buy 52
Bad News Early Is Good News 53
No Goal Means No Prospect 54
People Are Best Convinced by Reasons They Themselves Discover 55
When Selling, Your Expertise Can Become Your Enemy 55
The Only Person Who Can Call It a Solution Is the Buyer 56
Make Yourself Equal, Then Make Yourself Different—or You’ll 57
Just Be Different
Emotional Decisions Are Justified by Value and Logic 57
Don’t Close before the Buyer Is Ready to Buy 58
Chapter 5 Defining the Sales Process 61
Defining the Sales Process 63
The Trouble with the Data 65
Fire Drills and Hail Marys 66
Shaping Your Perception in the Marketplace 69
What Are the Component Parts? 69
More than One Process 74
Targeted Conversations 74
The Wired versus the Unwired 76
Further Segmentation Opportunities 77
The Clean Sheet of Paper 78
Process Is Structure 79
Chapter 6 Integrating the Sales and Marketing Processes 81
A Natural Integration 83
Learning from the Web 85
Toward a Selling Architecture 86
