In 1989 Neil Rackham wrote the follow up book to SPIN Selling. This book, Major Account Sales Strategy, isn’t very well known. I believe I bought it in 1995 for just over $20.00. It took me a few hours to read it, and from there it didn’t take me any time at all to implement the ideas between the covers of that book.
The ideas in that book helped me to win clients that spent more in a single year than my company’s annual revenue at that time. They helped me manage and lead a sales force. And just like that, we had growth.
I can’t contribute all of the success we had to that single book. In fact, I read and used the ideas from a lot of books I read, usually reading one a week. But the return on an investment of $20.00 and five or six hours of my time has been nothing short of incredible.
Ideas Are Free. Execution Isn’t.
Ideas are free. You are one Google search away from whatever you need to know to improve your results. But ideas—in the right hands—are worth millions of dollars. But only in the right hands. In the wrong hands, the very best idea in the world is worthless. In order for an idea to to be valuable, you have to take action on the idea. You have to apply it to your work. This is why I end every blog post I write with a set of questions.
Join me here this Thursday: http://bit.ly/AnthonyIannarinoSAS-14
This Thursday, March 13, my friends at Inside Sales are holding a Sales Acceleration Summit. There are going to be over 80 speakers, all sharing ideas about how you can improve your sales, whether you are individual contributor or a sales leader. The event costs you nothing but time, and the ideas shared there will be worth millions—in the right hands.
I believe I am speaking at 3:30 PM ET, and the title of my speech is Capturing Value: How to Win More Deals, Increase Wallet Share, and Improve Margins by Leading Value. This content is directed at sales managers and sales leaders who need win business at sustainable margins.
You will also hear from a lot of my friends, including Jill Konrath (author of SNAP Selling), Matt Dixon (author of The Challenger Sale), Jill Rowley, Grant Cardone (The 10X Rule), and the legendary Brian Tracy. You can hear my podcast interviews with Jill Konrath here, Matt here, Jill Rowley here, and Brian Tracy here (Grant is on deck).
Put It To Work
What could you learn this week that, when put to use in your business, would produce massive growth? How much time do you need to devote to identifying that idea? Are you willing to execute the ideas that—in the right hands—are worth millions? What makes your hands the “right hands?”
I invite you to show up here and find one idea you are going to put to use in your sales game: http://bit.ly/AnthonyIannarinoSAS-14
Contributor Anthony Iannarino is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and consultant. He writes daily at www.thesalesblog.com and you can subscribe to his newsletter at www.thesalesblog.com/newsletter