| From
George W. Dudley
Co-Author of The
Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance
With
Dr.
Jeff Tanner
Associate Dean of Research
& Faculty Development
at the Hankamer
School of Business at Baylor University
About
the authors
THE
HARD TRUTH ABOUT
SOFT-SELLING
Welcome
to the soft-sell revolution. It defines
modern selling. But what is soft selling?
Where did it come from? What does it promise
and what has it delivered?
Are
today’s “client-centered”
salespeople really happier, more professional
and productive? With clarity and precision,
world class scholars George W. Dudley and
Dr. John F. Tanner systematically peel away
buzzwords posing as facts and pop psych
mumbo-jumbo to expose a profession in the
midst of an identity crisis. To sell effectively,
modern salespeople are told they must present
themselves as “advisors” or
“consultants”—while still
accountable for old-fashioned, closed sales.
"In
the tradition of other great reads like
Who Moved the Cheese and Chicken Soup for
the Soul, Dudley and Tanner’s book
is small at only 200 pages. But don’t
be fooled by its abbreviated size. It packs
a knock-out punch aimed right at the high
concept psycho-babble that has overtaken
the modern sales profession and reduced
it to little more than a vague remnant of
itself.”
Benny
Tay, Prudential, Singapore
“As
an Australian CEO in a highly competitive
market space, I needed this book to reframe
my thinking about what real selling is about…
It should be on the 2006 required reading
list of every CEO looking to drive top line
business outcomes… As
a Psychologist with over 25 years of experience
working with all manner of delusional thinking,
I find its open assault on the humbug of
the soft sell to be a breath of fresh air…
Dudley tackles several of the post-modern
sacred cows behind the Soft Sell industry.
NLP, Congruence and Client-Centered positioning
each receive their fair share of critique,
and through the skillful use of sound science,
Dudley, like Francis Wheen’s (How
Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World), lays bare
the fallacious reasoning that says there
is no such thing as historical or scientific
truth… Academics
and consultants would do well to digest
the realities that lie behind the pseudo
science of soft selling….”
- Terence Coyne, Chief Executive
Officer, Personnel Decisions International,
Australia.
"...makes
it very clear that 'soft-sell' can very
easily turn into 'no-sell.' ... a must for
individuals who make their living selling
- or managing those who do."
- Dean Horger, Division Training
Leader, Genworth Financial
“Dudley
and Tanner make a major contribution in
their defense of selling as an honorable
profession. If one ever needed permission
to simply be genuine, speak with candor,
and be transparent with intent while always
seeking an honorable outcome – this
book delivers it!”
-Ron
Wagley, Chairman & CEO, Transamerica
Occidental Life Insurance Company
“Research
based….a good read...cold, hard realities
about the profession of sales.”
- Paul Nelson, Business
Unit Executive, Global Industries Sales,
IBM (Dallas)
"Three
cheers…A damned good little read.
Thoroughly readable…explains so much
about how sales consultants lost their way.”
- David Richardson, Senior Reporter, Today
Tonight, Public Affairs Programme, Network
Seven, Australia
“…a
veritable godsend for those in marketing
and sales. The authors have cut through
currently fashionable attitudes and jargon
with great precision—a most profitable
read.”
- Max Weismann, Center for
the Study of The Great Ideas
“A
valuable contribution….it’s
about time someone said it!”
- Don Bradmore, Senior Lecturer
(ret.), Department of Marketing, Faculty
of Business and Economics, Monash University,
Australia
“Explains
why we have so many great relationship-builders…
with poor sales results….and why so
many salespeople struggle so hard to be
accepted they forget the primary reason
for making contact- to ethically represent
our products and services to prospective
buyers.”
- Philip Seah, Dir., Agency
Development (Insurance), Prudential Corporation,
Asia, Hong Kong
“A
diminutive book…quick read…spirited
and meticulously crafted… welcome
contrast to the glut of self-certain 'you
must sell my way' crowd...”
- Shannon L. Goodson, Behavioral
Scientist, Author, Publisher
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